Forum: Close to Home
Topic: How can science help us deal with the problems of addiction?
Topic Posted by: Close To HomeDate Posted: Wed Mar 18 15:22:22 1998
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Posted by: Steven A. Kvaal
Date posted: Sun Mar 29 23:42:08 1998
Subject: Risk factors for alcoholism
Message:
I have a question for the addiction scientists in the audience: How do you explain why having a high tolerance for alcohol, as noted in the series on Sunday, adds to the risk of having a family member with alcoholism? If classical conditioning plays a role in addiction (as illustrated by the scientist who described how the brain begins to produce a "high" just in response to stimulus cues associated with ingesting a drug), I would think that low, rather than high, tolerance would put one at greater risk...