New Drug Approved by FDA to combat Alcholism

Alcoholism drug Vivitrol may provide relief to people struggling with this disease. And make no mistake it is a disease. There are people who look at alcholics with disdain and wonder why they don't just control their intake, but I have done a lot of research into this area due to alcoholism being a family illness and it is not that simple. Becoming an alcoholic can strike the first time you take a drink or the hundredth. It doesn't have as much to do with willpower as it does with diet and genetics.

A very good book if you know someone who struggles with alcoholism is Seven Weeks to Sobriety. This is a program that works. I have seen it work with a loved one, but it is not easy to stick to. It basically means removing sugar and high gylcemic items from your diet. That is a tough thing to do on an ongoing basis and a little 'slip' ruins the whole thing! There is also a regimen of vitamin taking that can become very expensive, but the benefits are great and the program does work! Honest! This book deals with the close relation between sugar and alcohol. In my family I have diabetics and alcoholics. I have people (like my dad and me) who crave sugar on a daily basis. Once I cut it out, I do okay, but I do go through withdrawal from it and it is only the advent of so many yummy sugar free products that helps.

Another issue (which my family also faces) is genetics. American Indians have the highest Alcoholism rate in our country. One theory is that it is a genetic issue with them and they just can't metabolize alcohol in the same way. Others point to the fact that cultures who have a longer historical exposure to 'firewater' have fewer problems with alcoholism. Genetically speaking, the ones with the genetic makeup to be alcholics is weeded out over the years like any 'bad' gene. And then there are the social aspects of alchol doesn't have the taboo in other countries as it does here and things that are more accepted don't get into the psychological aspect of forbidden fruit. My great great grandmother on my father's side was a full-blooded Native American Indian. So there is the genetics issue in my family.

So, if you know someone who does struggle with this issue, send them the links above. It would be a blessing to them. And remember, do not judge people who suffer with alcholism. It is not our job to judge anyone...that is God's. As Christians, it is our job to reach out to others who have difficulties and love them and help them as we can, but not to judge them.