Biological Addiction Factor In Rehabilitation Therapy

By Author: Aaron Webber
Total Articles: 26
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Similar to other disease, the defenselessness to addiction of drugs and alcohol diverges from individual to individual. Experts have identified risk factor for the addiction. Individual with more risk factor will expose to a greater risk to drug or alcohol abuse and addiction. Rehabilitation to drug and alcohol should take the risk factors into account and educate their patient about this. This article will explore one of the risk factor of addiction, Biological factor. In general, addiction is a complex interaction between biological factors, environment and the substance it self. Biological factor is a proposed answer to the failure of behavioral studies to explain the addiction. The evidence found in alcohol addiction suggests that genetic factor influence alcohol metabolism and neurological dysfunction. Other evidence is on the change in brain activity in people with physical dependence to addictive substance.

These are the components of biological factor, genetic and body metabolism. Some experts even suggest that gender also a prominent factor in risk of addiction, but we will not discuss about gender now. We will ...
... focus more on genetic and brain metabolism. Rehabilitation therapy for addiction should address the family history about addiction to have a clear description of patient risk profile. The strongest evidence in genetic influence to addiction has found in family histories, twins and adopted children and different facial groups. These studies comes to conclusion that genetic is the factor in the response to alcohol and its metabolism.

Genetic factor also influence the dysfunction in neurological system commonly found in people who begin their drinking habit at early age. Based on this evidence the patient's assessment during the first step of rehabilitation treatment should include questions about family history and first time use of addictive. The genetic influence in addiction is very important since it is estimated to have 40 - 60 % of vulnerability to addiction. In scientific findings many genes contributes to response and vulnerability to alcohol. 40 - 60% is a significant number. This should be considered seriously in the treatment. A person who has family history in addiction should be treated with extra attention due to their risk are higher than other who trapped in addiction due to environmental or behavioral factors only. Other biological factor for addiction is the effect of addictive substance such as alcohol and drug to human body metabolism, especially to brain activity. USG image of brain activity of people with addiction shows different color in the prefrontal cortex compared to normal people. This is part of the brain which is responsible for logical assessment on situations, making of sound decision and related to controlling emotions and desires. When the abused of addictive substance starts early in adolescence, the prefrontal cortex even get damaged before the development process completed.

This is the reason of challenging conditions in the addicts who has problem back to their teen age. The effect of addictive substance to the production of dopamine is the main factor in addiction. This is the natural substance produced by human brain in pleasure activities. Drugs could manipulate the brain to produce this substance. The addicts should be informed about this to understand that this is the reason why they find it difficult to stop the drugs of alcohol. They should not be frustrated because modern medication and therapy will be able to help them to restore the brain function to a normal activity. The understanding of risk factor in addiction has been researched by scientists. The growing evidence suggests that addiction is not just a factor of behavioral only but also linked to genetic and a real change in human metabolism in brain. The rehabilitation for addiction should consider the biological factor to create the right treatment. The patient should get proper information about this in order to understand how they are trapped in addiction and response well accordingly. Read more Rehabilitation Information