Alcoholism Recovery & Treatment

Question by feelie75: Why can’t alcohol dehydrogenase enzymes be injected into yourself to lower your tolerance to alcohol?
I read that alcohol dehydrogenase enzymes are what help you process alcohol and after years of drinking you develop a deficiency in these enzymes, therefore making your tolerance higher (you need to drink more to get the same “drunk” feeling).

My question is: Why can’t we just medically raise our levels of these enzymes back up to where they used to be, or even higher, so that we get drunk faster and therefore drink less?

Likewise, why isn’t there a treatment for alcoholism that tries to balance this enzyme to a “normal” level in order to more normalize someone’s drinking habits?
to answer the first reply, acetaldehyde dehydrogenase will detoxify acetaldehyde to acetic acid. Is that still as fatal?

Best answer:

Answer by toranagaly
It might be LETHAL to drink alcohol in such a case . The enzyme breaks alcohol down to toxic compounds , acetaldhyde being the main one .
THEN
Acetaldehyde and other preliminary toxic results are FURTHER processed by OTHER enzyme systems to give an energy rich molecule called “acetyl coenzyme-A ” .

So if the enzyme on the first limb of that process (dehydrogenase) was injected WITHOUT the enzymes of the second limb , the toxic metabolites (like acetaldhyde) will accumulate FASTER than the normal levels of the enzymes of the second limb CAN ACCOMODATE .
That will result in a spike in acetaldhyde level with even little alcohol intake , potentially leading to death or blindness etc

Edit
You mean inject BOTH enzymes ?
Well that might work except that I doubt those reactions actually take place in serum . The enzyme conversion , at least the final steps (beginning with acetaldhyde) takes place EXCLUSIVELY in HEPATOCYTES (liver cells) , inside the cell environment .
An injected enzyme might work for reactions in the blood stream , but not for intracellular reactions , unless it is also modified to cross the cell wall and enter the hepatocyte .

Acetic acid = acetyl coenzymeA (acetic acid BOUND to a carrier ) , it is not toxic , it is an energy storage molecule that is produced during cell respiration and metabolism of fat .

Edit
I have a problem understanding this . It ultimately depends on what EXACTLY causes drunkenness : free alcohol or its metabolites .

The explanation of tolerance by a deficiency in metabolizing enzymes is contradictory .
It means that chronic drinkers will have higher blood alcohol levels than normal people with for the same amount of ingested alcohol , since it will not be metabolized .

That also means that drunkenness is NOT caused by alcohol itself , but rather by it’s metabolites .

HOWEVER
Even in such a state , the amount of drunkenness cannot be increased by increasing the enzyme concentration simply because thats how enzymes work . The enzymatic reaction is limited by the amount of the precursor . So while decreasing the enzyme WILL decrease the resulting products , INCREASING the enzyme will only increase the production point to a certain level which is the optimal enzyme concentration , after that , the rate of production depends ONLY on the precursor concentration , no matter how much enzyme you add .

SO
Hypothetically , IF the enzyme concentration CAN be manipulated , whether by injection or otherwise , it might bring the tolerance of CHRONIC drinkers to the normal level before the years of alcohol abuse , however I doubt it would decrease the normal tolerance of a normal person (so that the alcohol intake of such a person might become low)

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Question by Welcome Aiden-Paul: I’m doing a report on alcoholism and cant find stats?
I’m in a parent/child relations class and I need to find out how many alcoholics we have here in the state of Oklahoma and in the city I live Tulsa, I have been searching the web to no avail…any help would be greatly appreciated!

Best answer:

Answer by Sierra
These should help…..
http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/a/alcoholism/stats-country.htm
http://www.usnodrugs.com/alcohol-abuse.htm
http://www.medicinenet.com/teen_drug_abuse/tulsa-ok_city.htm#topic

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Question by max j: Once recovering fromm alcoholism you can’t drink anymore without going back to being an alcoholic?
Like can you recover from alcoholism and still be able to drink without having to become addicted?

Best answer:

Answer by John J
No…

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Question by whiskyfussell: Is it really possible to overcome alcoholism? I’m at my wits end and still, I can’t stop, even with ulcers
I have; pancreatitis, which causes me constant pain, ulcers which also do and still I crave a drink… I can’t seem to get into a rehab without waiting for months (I live in Britain) and I don’t know if I can make it that long

Best answer:

Answer by BigAl B
Just keep drinking man

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we have been married for 43 years. I am 60 yr old. He is a gemini which is two persons in one! he is drug and alcohol dependent. when he doesn’t have the drug you cannot talk to him or even be in the same room. So he then turns to alcohol which makes him dangerous. when he is on the drugs he is very agreeable and relaxed to live with.I have been on this roller coaster ride all these years. I DO NOT WANT to live the rest of my life like this! but I can’t seem to leave, I care about what happens to him, I’ll miss my home, I’m scared I won’t be able to support myself, I can’t live in an apartment without my animals! I don’t think I can mentally handle the separation. I will not ask him to sell the house or give me money. He has taken my sexuality away, no sex, We don’t talk unless hes high. I’ve been to counseling without success, they all want me to leave him! Someone help me, cause I can’t seem to make the decision.Then I think I’ve stood it out this long and now I’m going to leave him in our retirement years and he will die alone. As you can see I am very torn in the decision to do whats right for me! Thank you for listening.