Drug and Alcohol Treatment Centers

Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant. It acts in various places, including the reticular formation, spinal cord, cerebellum and cerebral cortex, and on many neurotransmitter systems. In the central nervous system, alcohol interferes with the processes that instruct certain nerve cells to activate or become excited. It also enhances those processes that instruct certain nerve cells to be restrain. Thus, alcohol acts as a non-specific biochemical activity inhibitor in the central nervous system, and that it why alcohol effects include sedation or anxiety reduction.

In our culture, recreational use of alcoholuse has become a part of life, but also a complex health problem has emerged: dependence and addiction to alcohol. Addiction that requires medical treatment, and that has to deal with the main obstacle for recovery: the withdrawal syndrome.

With chronic use of alcohol, the brain shows a change in its circuitry, and it only functions "normally" in the presence of alcohol. Brain disorders, that occur only when drinking is suddenly stopped, are known as withdrawal or abstinence syndrome. The withdrawal symptoms are relieved by taking alcohol again, and that is what makes it hard for an alcoholic to abstain because he knows that drinking will bring immediate relief.

Signs and symptoms of alcohol withdrawal

The signs and symptoms of alcohol withdrawal are the opposite of the direct pharmacological effects of alcohol. As it has been said, alcohol a drug that interferes with the processes that stimulate certain nerve cells to activate or become excited. It also enhances those processes that instruct certain nerve cells to be restrained. Thus, alcohol acts as a nonspecific biochemical activity inhibitor in the central nervous system. During withdrawal, a person's central nervous system experiences a reversal of this effect: excitatory processes are enhanced while inhibitory processes are reduced. Such changes can result in overactivation of the central nervous system when alcohol is withdrawn.

Clinical researchers working at drug and alcohol treatment centers have measured this overactivation in patients, and even patients with moderately severe alcohol withdrawal can experience sympathetic nervous system overactivity and increased production of the adrenal hormones cortisol and norepinephrine, that can be toxic to nerve cells. For some, who are less chemically dependent, withdrawal symptoms might be as "mild" as merely getting the shakes, or the sweats -or perhaps nausea, headache, anxiety, rapid heart beat, and increased blood pressure. Although these symptoms are uncomfortable and irritating, they are not necessarily dangerous. But they are often accompanied by the "craving" for more alcohol, making the decision to continue abstinence much more difficult to make. Even the "morning after" hangover of someone who only occasionally drinks in excess, is actually a mild form of alcohol withdrawal from the excesses of the night before, as the alcohol content of their blood begins to drop.

However, and very often with alcohol addiction, hallucinations may develop within six to 48 hours after the last drink. These are usually visual hallucinations but they can also involve sounds and smells. They can last a few hours or up to weeks at a time.

Also within this time frame after quitting, convulsions or seizures can occur, which is the point at which the alcohol withdrawal can become dangerous, if not medically treated. The symptoms may progress to delirium tremens after three to five days without alcohol. Alcohol withdrawal delirium, or delirium tremens, typically begins 48 to 72 hours after the last drink and is preceded by the typical signs and symptoms of early withdrawal, although these may be masked or delayed by other illnesses or medications. Signs of sympathetic hyperactivity (such as tachycardia, hypertension, fever, and diaphoresis) are often profound and are hallmarks of alcohol withdrawal delirium, among other symptoms such as profound confusion, disorientation and extreme cardiovascular disturbances. Once delirium tremens begins, there is no known medical treatment to stop it. Grand mal seizures, heart attacks and stroke can occur during the DT's, all of which can be fatal. The mortality rate is to be between 1% to 5% and increases with delayed diagnosis, inadequate treatment, and concurrent medical conditions.

So, for those who have committed themselves to not drinking again, or forced by circumstances to not have access to alcohol, the struggle to fight the withdrawal symptoms can become a dangerous battle, one that can actually become life threatening. On the other hand, the hardness of the withdrawal syndrome leads to a very high risk of relapse during the early withdrawal period, in part because drug craving is easily triggered by encounters with or thinking of drug-associated stimuli.

For these reasons, detoxification treatment without the appropriate medical management and level of care constitutes a great health and even life risk for patients. On the other hand, repeated and inadequately treated withdrawals could produce future withdrawals of increased severity. Many investigators believe that chronic alcoholics who cannot maintain abstinence should receive pharmacotherapy to control withdrawal symptoms, thereby reducing the potential for further seizures and brain damage.

Detoxification without the withdrawal syndrome is possible

Summing up, withdrawal is the main obstacle to recovery from the addiction to alcohol. But detoxification without the withdrawal syndrome is possible. The alcohol withdrawal process is NOT an imperative medical intervention at and alcohol treatment centers.

To avoid the withdrawal syndrome, it is necessary to restore brain functions that have been damaged by the alcohol addiction. But this is not possible with just “traditional” detoxification. Neurons must be recovered. Only a pharmacological intervention, at specialized drug and alcohol treatment centers, to recover the normal neural functioning of the brain structures harmed by alcohol, allows a detoxification without the withdrawal symptoms and without craving. Moreover, it allows the recovery of higher cognitive and affective processes such as attention, reading abilities, consciousness or serenity.

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