Are alcoholics physically different?

Are alcoholics physically different?

Many people would have you believe so. But it’s a fair question to ask whether its true or not, isn’t it?First of all, where does the idea come from.? It comes from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. Barefoot Bill describes where the idea comes from here:

The phenomenom of craving


Alcoholic Anonymous meetings worldwide, it is taught at step studies that an “Alcoholic” has an “allergy” to alcohol. Step One of the 12 steps and 12 traditions ,an AA primer,says:

“ The Tyrant alcohol wielded a double-edge sword over us: first we were smitten by an insane urge that condemned us to drinking, and then by an ALLERGY OF THE BODY that insured we would ultimately destroy ourselves in the process”

Barefoot Bill goes on to describe why alcoholics are bodily different:

“Alcoholics make up about 12% of the population. The body of the alcoholic is physically different. The liver and pancreas of the alcoholic process alcohol at one-third to one-tenth the rate of a normal pancreas and liver. Now as alcohol enters the body, it breaks down into various components, one of which is acetate. We know now that acetate triggers a craving for more acetate. In a normal drinker, the acetate moves through the system quickly and exits. But that doesn't happen in an alcoholic. In alcoholics, the acetate of the first drink is barely processed out, so by staying in their body, it triggers a craving for more acetate. The alcoholic then has a second drink, now adding to most of the acetate of the first drink, and that makes them want a drink twice as much as the normal drinker. So they have another. Then, having almost three times the craving as a normal drinker, they have another.”

If you do a google search you will find quite a number of similar sites which to this day promote something similar. And if you got to AA, it is a commonly held belief that alcoholics are physically different, and they are a variety of theories by which they attempt to explain it.

The acetaldehyde hypothesis was advanced in a popular book titled “Under the Influence”, by James Milam and Katherine Ketcham (ironically subtitled a guide to the myths and realities of alcoholism) , first published in 1981. James Milam argued that acetaldehyde is a primary biological and genetic basis for alcoholism, which they claimed is completely biologically determined.So how valid is the idea that is promoted as truth that alcoholics process alcohol at 1/3 to 1/10 the rate of a normal liver and pancreas?

“What role do acetate and acetaldehyde (break-down products of alcohol) play in the production of "alcoholism" (alcohol dependence)? Very little, according to available research. Old ideas that acetaldehyde is a poison that leads to organ damage and perhaps brain damage, and that the rate at which acetaldehyde turns to acetate in the brain influences the onset of alcoholism, have not been substantiated by science. (January 10, 2005)”----Addiction science research and education center, University of Texas at Austin.

In fact, James Milan got the idea from a psychiatrist named Mark Schuckit. According to Stanton Peele ,Schuckit himself no longer focuses on acetaldehyde as the most likely mechanism for the heritability of alcoholism.In fact, here is site where the executive director of The Counseling Center is promoting the idea.

The Counseling Center
http://tccportsmouth.blogspot.com/2006/09/disease-of-addiction.html

What do you think? Should we tell Alcoholics the truth, or just promote ideas like this whether they are true or not?