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Alcoholic polyneuropathy is a neurological disorder in which peripheral nerves throughout the body malfunction simultaneously.It is defined by axonal degeneration in neurons of both the sensory and motor systems and initially occurs at the distal ends of the longest axons in the body.
Alcohol depresses the central nervous system, slowing cerebral messaging and altering the way signals are sent and received. Progressively larger amounts of alcohol are needed to achieve the same physical and emotional results. The drinker eventually must consume alcohol just to avoid the physical cravings and withdrawal symptoms.
Alcohol-related brain damage can have drastic effects on the individuals affected and their loved ones. The options for treatment are very limited compared to other disorders. Although limited, most patients with alcohol-related cognitive deficits experienced slight improvement of their symptoms over the first two to three months of treatment. [8]
Drug use, including alcohol and prescription drugs, can induce symptomatology which resembles mental illness. This can occur both in the intoxicated state and during the withdrawal state. In some cases these substance-induced psychiatric disorders can persist long after detoxification from amphetamine, cocaine, opioid, and alcohol use, causing ...
Delirium tremens is a component of alcohol withdrawal hypothesized to be the result of compensatory changes in response to chronic heavy alcohol use. Alcohol positively allosterically modulates the binding of GABA , enhancing its effect and resulting in inhibition of neurons projecting into the nucleus accumbens , as well as inhibiting NMDA ...
Physical dependence is usually managed by a slow dose reduction over a period of weeks, months or sometimes longer depending on the drug, dose and the individual. [6] A physical dependence on alcohol is often managed with a cross tolerant drug, such as long acting benzodiazepines to manage the alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
“The brain changes, and it doesn’t recover when you just stop the drug because the brain has been actually changed,” Kreek explained. “The brain may get OK with time in some persons. But it’s hard to find a person who has completely normal brain function after a long cycle of opiate addiction, not without specific medication treatment.”
An additional cognitively-based model of substance use recovery has been offered by Aaron Beck, the father of cognitive therapy and championed in his 1993 book Cognitive Therapy of Substance Abuse. [64] This therapy rests upon the assumption addicted individuals possess core beliefs, often not accessible to immediate consciousness (unless the ...