Prevention

Drinking alcohol to sleep better seems like a no-brainer to some. Why else would it be called a nightcap? But what researchers are actually finding is that this remedy is short-lived. In fact, drinking alcohol before bed can be much more damaging overtime than the temporary relief it may promise.

The London Sleep Center has found that alcohol disrupts our sleep cycles more than we realize. What’s misleading is how it seems to induce sleep. Alcohol can cause us to fall asleep quicker and into a deeper sleep. The problem occurs later in the night. Alcohol upsets one of the most crucial stages of the sleep cycle: rapid eye movement or REM sleep, where our dreams occur. Alcohol reduces the amount of time that we spend in this stage. In robbing us of this type of sleep, our entire sleep cycle is disrupted and less restful. The next morning we may feel the effects of this by being more tired or irritable. Overtime, if we continue to miss out on this crucial sleep as a result of alcohol, we put ourselves at risk of sleep deprivation. This can cause fatigue, weight gain, depression, irritability, risk of disease, aching body, poor memory, and inability to handle stress. Using alcohol too often at night can also lead to problems like insomnia, snoring, and the potential for dependency.

So, what are some better ways to sleep more sound? It may help to create a routine that tells your brain it’s time to wind down and get ready for bed. Such clues could be: drinking warm tea or milk, listening to soothing music, taking a hot bath or meditating in a low-lit room. This article on BBC Online mentions these five sleep inhibitors that confuse the body’s natural clock: noises, light, caffeine, a heavy meal, a hot room, and a busy mind. Aside from avoiding alcohol, try disconnecting from electronics to help promote better sleep. Skip the nightcap and turn off the iPad!

Addiction prevention programs that emphasize negative future consequences of substance abuse don’t appear to be working.  Essentially, addicts not only value instant pleasure but they also devalue future consequences.  Despite the fact that now more than ever, schools educate students on the risks of substance abuse, the number of cases involving substance abuse disorders continues to climb.

This is also true regardless of television regularly displaying the destructive nature of drug abuse, including its negative consequences and social repercussions while intoxicated (often surrounding celebrity hype) and the harsh rigors of trying to get and stay sober (often shown through popular reality shows such as “Intervention”). And while educational exposure to the negative, long-term repercussions of drug and alcohol use maybe prevent some people from developing addictions, others remain vulnerable. Scientists are starting to understand why this is the case.

People who are at risk for developing substance abuse disorders tend to exhibit a trait called “delay discounting,” which is a cognitive function that involves circuits in the frontal cortex of the brain that stores and manages information necessary to guide behavior. This trait causes the tendency to devalue rewards and punishments that occur in the future. It is often paralleled by “reward myopia,” a tendency to choose immediate rewarding stimuli like drugs or alcohol. This may be one reason why education alone cannot prevent substance abuse. Studies have found that people vulnerable to addiction, who know that drugs are harmful in the long-run, devalue such information and are drawn to the instant rewarding effects of drugs or alcohol. (Medical News Today)

This is also evident with those suffering from substance dependencies who face legal, financial, or health problems. Studies have shown they almost consistently choose instant gratification as long as the reward is sooner, despite whether the future reward is greater. Neuroscientists understand that a major challenge in preventing and treating addiction is the reduced value of future reward, especially once the brain is hijacked by drugs or alcohol.

In a new study, published in Biological Psychiatry, faculty members of Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute present a strategy that increases the value of future rewards in the minds of substance abuses and those at risk. The researches found that by increasing an individual’s ability to remember decreases the level of discounting future events. The head researcher reiterated, an “improved memory resulted in a greater appreciation of future reward.” (Medical News Today)

The idea for this rehabilitation technique was borrowed from methods used on stroke and traumatic brain injury victims. It involves individuals repeatedly performing working memory tasks. Ultimately, the brain “exercises” were found to promote the functioning of underlying cognitive circuits. When used on substance abuses, this cognitive rehabilitation tool improved working memory and reduced the discounting of delayed rewards. Such a tool may also prove to be invaluable in reaching those most at risk for substance abuse

Researches at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAA) recently found a genetic variation in receptor sites known as the mu-opioid in the brain’s reward system that appear to influence the release of dopamine and may be key to addiction prevention. This also affects the degree of pleasure that individuals get from drinking. As reported by Join Together, the study was published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

It’s known that alcohol consumption causes the brain to release the neurotransmitter dopamine (responsible for pleasure, motivation, etc.), but science is beginning to understand how genes may influence the degree to which the brain responds to drinking. Ultimately, this may determine more effective methods for substance abuse prevention and rehabilitation.

Specifically, individuals who possess the 118G variant of the mu-opioid receptor may experience more pleasurable effects from alcohol. This puts them at greater risk for developing alcohol abuse and dependence. This may also explain why individuals with this genetic variant benefited the most from treatment that directly targeted the dopamine receptors.

Further understanding of this gene variant, its relationship to dopamine, and the ability to detect the gene variant in individuals could become a powerful means of prevention and early intervention.