Alcoholism

When too much alcohol is consumed by any one person it is called “alcohol abuse”. When someone that is pre-disposed to alcoholism (genetically inclined to become an alcoholic) drinks too much the situation may very well turn out in such a way that that particular person becomes an alcoholic. An alcoholic is someone that has become dependent on alcohol to the extent that they need to drink alcohol in order to function as a normal human being. A person that has become dependent on alcohol finds it impossible to break away from it. Even if they do want to quit. In this article we check how cbd for alcoholism works .

A well-known fact about alcohol consumption is that the consumer of alcohol builds a tolerance to the drug, meaning that they forever need to consume more and more of it within the same period of time as the first time they drank alcohol, in order to experience the same effect as then.

When an alcohol dependent person abruptly quits drinking, they will begin to experience alcohol withdrawal symptoms as soon as the effect of their last intake of alcohol begins to wear off. These withdrawal symptoms can include conditions such as depression, irritability, anxiety, severe fatigue, heart palpitations, the development of shakiness and/or tremors, etc.

Alcohol Withdrawal

In some cases alcohol withdrawal can become extreme, including the onset of seizures and delirium tremens.

The term “delirium tremens” is an umbrella term for a number of conditions including fever, seizures, mental dysfunction, tremors/shakiness, irritability, hallucinations, etc. Delirium tremens leads to death in between 1% and 5% of all alcohol withdrawal cases.

In general, the adverse impact of alcohol withdrawal symptoms results in alcohol dependent people not attempting to quit drinking, even if they desperately want to stop. They will continue drinking merely to avoid the feelings associated with alcohol withdrawal.

Statistically, there are approximately 38 million people or more that drink too much; of the 38 million, approximately 17 million people have alcohol abuse tendencies.

Alcohol abuse ranks 3^rd from the top on the list of causes of preventable deaths. Looking at the total annual cost regarding alcohol abuse, which is over $200 billion and includes the traumatic experiences around hospitalization, one can see that the impact and results of trauma caused by alcohol abuse on the lives of people and their families are quite considerable.

The impact on society alone is already a large negative on, among others the economy. Helping people to manage alcohol consumption and overcome alcohol abuse is imperative.

CBD for Alcoholism – Recent Studies

A study was done in February 2014 to measure CBI receptors. These are Cannabinoid receptors found mainly in the brain and spine. The study determined that Cannabinoid signals vary in the brains of people who did not use alcohol at all, people who used alcohol in a responsible manner and people who were dependent on alcohol.

It was determined that in social drinkers not dependent on alcohol there was a significant increase in CBI receptor activity directly after ethanol (alcohol) was injected into the bloodstream, while a significant decrease of CBI receptor activity was detected even after 1 month of taking no alcohol use.

Activity was particularly decreased in the vicinity of the cerebellum, which is the part of the brain responsible for co-ordination of movements. It also co-ordinates finer movements, maintaining posture and balance and areas responsible for planning. After even longer periods of being without alcohol, CBI receptor activity was drastically decreased in the ventral striatum, an area where damage can cause epileptic seizures.

How Can CBD Help with Alcoholism?

Usually when someone reaches the stage where they would consider virtually anything just so that they can get released from the suffering of alcoholism they have crossed the bridge from denial to acknowledgement. CBD should be introduced when that stage is reached.

When CBD is taken into the system, CB1 receptors receive a large amount of CBD, resulting in a feeling of satisfaction or “having been rewarded”. CBD receptors are located in the brain, abdomen and reproductive area. The brain is most affected by alcohol, so it is very important to take a sufficient amount of CBD to combat the alcoholism.

Note that CB1 receptor stimulation involves a subjective sensation of reward or pleasure. Alcohol magnifies natural physical sensations. During a period of having no alcohol, the decreased stimulation then leads to an intense craving for alcohol in the hope of restoring the positive sensations caused when using it.

During the early phases of abstaining from alcohol, neurons become hyper-excitable or over-activated, a condition that damage and kill them.

By preventing alcohol cravings

When you take CBD it will stop the craving for alcohol and suppress the negative effects of alcoholism. Therefore, when an alcohol-dependent person attempts to reduce or eliminate their alcohol consumption, treatments to increase the signals of cannabinoid receptors in the brain may prove to be useful, my statement to be motivated as follows: –

• Cannabinoids are likely to act as neuroprotective (nerve protecting) agents having the potential to limit hyper-excitability and therefore preventing brain cell damage. Therefore, Cannabinoid therapy may actively avert the brain damage that would otherwise have been caused by withdrawal;
• Using CBD in conjunction with eliminating alcohol may be useful in treating alcohol dependence and alcohol withdrawal by helping to prevent alcohol cravings.
• Using CBD for alcohol is still a new concept, but it does have a lot of potential.