Pyloris and Alcohol

_________________________________________________________________________

There appears to be a relationship between the pyloris and alcohol and the compulsion to drink.

Research About the Pyloris and The Compulsion to Drink Alcohol

image: male teen looking lost while drinkingRecent research into alcoholism has uncovered the chemical salt that is perhaps the primary factor that triggers the compulsion to drink alcohol. This chemical salt is known as Tetrahydro-isoquiniline (THIQ).

The more quickly a person drinks, the more time it takes for the body to dispel the alcohol, and the greater the alcohol affects the person.  

It takes longer for the body to dispel the alcohol because quickly ingesting concentrated amounts of alcohol results in gastric movement which causes the pyloris (the muscular valve between the stomach and the small intestine) to spasm, frequently resulting in vomiting and preventing the break-down of the alcohol by the liver. 

Alcohol is usually broken down by the enzymes in the liver into acetaldehyde, and then into acetate, which, in turn, is broken down into carbon dioxide (eliminated when a person exhales) and water (which is expelled as urine by the bladder).

Heavy amounts of alcohol are transferred throughout the body by the blood.  If the alcohol elimination system is greatly overloaded, it cannot break down the alcohol correctly and THIQ forms in the liquid that surrounds the cells in the blood.

image: female teen in anguish from alcoholismInterestingly, THIQ is a salt that needs acetaldehyde much like table salt needs water. 

What this means is that the THIQ craves acetaldehyde, which does not get broken down into acetate and then expelled as carbon dioxide (through the breath) and water (via the urine). This process then triggers the body's need for more alcohol to feed acetaldehyde to the THIQ.

The more acetaldehyde that the THIQ receives, the more it grows. The more the THIQ grows, the greater the demand for acetaldehyde. The result is the compulsion to drink that is characteristic of alcoholics.

Excessive Drinking, Ulcers, and Pyloris and Alcohol

When food enters the stomach, the stomach contracts and mixes the food to facilitate digestion.  Under normal conditions, the food then passes from the stomach into the small intestine. At the end of the stomach leading into the small intestine is the pylorus.

The cells of the stomach lining produce a complex called mucopolysaccharide (CMPS) that protects the surface of the stomach from hydrochloric acid.  Hydrochloric acid is manufactured by the Chief cells in the stomach lining and helps digest the food.

Ulcers result from the wearing away of the stomach lining due to the breakdown of the CMPS and eventual growth and spreading by Helicobacter pyloris, a spiral-shaped bacterium.  Helicobacter pyloris resists being covered over by the CMPS, thus allowing the hydrochloric acid to erode the stomach surface.

The relationship between alcohol, ulcers, and the Helicobacter pyloris bacteria is this:  Excessive drinking of concentrated alcohol helps wear away the complex CMPS that covers the stomach lining.  Once this lining is unprotected, the Helicobacter pyloris bacteria can start forming and spreading, leading to an ulcer.

In the earlier stages of alcohol addiction, the alcoholic had a choice whether he or she would take the first drink.  Once the alcoholic had the first drink, he or she usually lost all control and would then continue to drink.  In the last stage of alcoholism, however, alcoholics no longer have a choice:  they must drink.

It is worth mentioning that there are two forms of stomach cancer that are also attributed to Helicobacter pyloris infection.  Thus, excessive drinking seems to play an important part in the development of both stomach ulcers AND stomach cancer. 

In the United States, a number of family-oriented interventions have been used to help prevent alcohol abuse.  These interventions include the following:  family preservation programs, family services, family therapy, family skills training programs, in-home family crisis services, and family education programs.

Pyloris and Alcohol:  Conclusion

The above analysis reveals two separate discussions about the relationship between pyloris and alcohol. Both of these discussions, may be related. That is, the person who feels the compulsion to drink increasing amounts of alcohol is certainly at risk of developing ulcers (or stomach cancer). 

Research studies have demonstrated that the following family-related antecedents are correlated to the start of substance abuse: relationships with peers who use drugs, neurotic traits, conduct disorders, high levels of stress and conflict, psychological depression, economic instability, high sensation-seeking, low academic performance, sexual or physical abuse in childhood, juvenile delinquency, low self-esteem, antisocial behavior, parental use of drugs and alcohol, dysfunctional family behaviors and interactions, coercive behavior with family members, poor family management, inadequate mother-infant bonding and nurturing, and genetic propensity toward substance abuse.

Up to 40 percent of U.S. industrial fatalities and 47 percent of industrial injuries can be linked to alcohol consumption and alcoholism.

______________________________________________