There are thousands of people all over the world who are addicted to alcohol. The habit of consuming alcohol continuously for a long time slowly makes them addicted to this beverages and they become victims of fatal diseases. But why do people get addicted to alcohol? And can it be treated? Yes alcoholism is a problem that can be treated successfully. There are various effective ways of treating alcoholism and pharmacological extinction is one such way. Doctors often opt for pharmacological extinction to help patients get rid of their addiction to alcohol.
While mentioning about pharmacological extinction one must say about the endorphin, because it plays a major role in encouraging alcohol addiction in people. Endorphin is actually a kind of hormone which is released from the pituitary gland and triggers a feedback system that instruct the brain to repeat the action that has just being performed. When a person consumes alcohol, the endorphin released from the pituitary glands in the body instructs his or her brain to repeat the process and thus he or she continues drinking.
The endorphin actually starts a rewarding function instructing the brain to get more opiates through drinking.
Pharmacological extinction is the method of treatment that prevents the endorphin from instructing the brain to repeat the process of drinking. Pharmacological extinction can also be explained as a mechanism which helps in the reduction of involuntary impulses by introducing a stimulus without subsequent reward. There are various drugs associated with pharmacological extinction but the most effective is the Naltrexone.
The drug, which is also known as Nalmefene is actually a strong opiate antagonist and is applied on patients of alcoholism to reduce their craving for alcohol. By consuming Naltrexone continuously for some time a person can decrease his or her addiction towards alcohol significantly as it prevents the endorphin from rewarding his or her brain to repeat drinking.
Patients of alcoholism get mostly benefited from pharmacological extinction when the process is applied simultaneously with mental counseling. Mental counseling enhances the effectiveness of pharmacological extinction significantly and thus patients get recovered very fast. According to doctors, a daily dose of Naltrexone is sufficient for treating alcoholism when the patient is undergoing mental counseling.
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