Exercise May Help Treat Alcohol Dependence and Prevent Relapse
A new study has found that exercise may be an effective way to treat alcohol dependence. Available for Early View at Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, the study found that regular exercise reduced alcohol intake in hamsters.
Circadian systems, which are regulated by light, exercise, food, and social interactions, can easily be disrupted by alcohol abuse, which can lead to dependency and relapse. J. David Glass, corresponding author for the study and professor of biological sciences at Kent State University, explains that alcohol abuse disrupts circadian rhythms, which dictate when to sleep, eat, and mate. With regular alcohol consumption, individuals might go to bed too early or too late, not sleep at all, and adopt irregular eating habits. In response, the individuals may start drinking more alcohol to help them fall asleep, which actually disrupts sleep and can then lead to a greater craving for alcohol.
Alan M. Rosenwasser, professor of psychology at the University of Maine, added that in other words, regular alcohol abuse and disruption of circadian systems destruct one another reciprocally, resulting in adverse effects. In animal experiments, access to running wheels or other methods of exercise can influence circadian rhythms as well as mental and physical health.
Glass said that in the study, they found that restricting animals from exercising greatly increased the animals’ likelihood of drinking alcohol. The researchers tested the effects of exercise on hamsters that regularly drank a solution of water and alcohol, hamsters that didn’t drink alcohol, and the influence of constant light on both drinking and exercising behavior.
They found that the more the hamsters used the running wheels, the less they drank alcohol. The hamsters that didn’t run as frequently had a greater craving for alcohol and drank more of it, which suggests that regular exercise may be an effective treatment for alcohol dependency.
Rosenwasser added that their study suggests that alcohol consumption and voluntary exercise are two forms of inherently rewarding behavior, and the rewarding effects may partially substitute one for the other, suggesting that the two behaviors are controlled by overlapping brain systems.
The neurotransmitter dopamine is released in the brain after any type of “reward,” such as food, drug use, sex, and exercise, which means that humans should be able to use exercise as a substitute for any type of addiction. Glass added that exercise seems to be able to alter the chemical environment in the brain in a way that’s very similar to alcohol.
Glass noted that aside from providing physical benefits, exercise may also reduce the risk of addiction in people who have a family history of it. The researchers warned that exercise should be used in moderation, as people can begin to exercise at an unhealthy rate.
When the researchers studied the effects of light on the hamster’s behavior, they found that those that were more sensitive to the disruptive effects of constant light on circadian rhythms also drank less alcohol. Glass said that this suggests that there may be a genetic predisposition for alcohol abuse and dependence that is expressed under certain circadian conditions such as insomnia, working late-night shifts, or repeated exposure to jet-lag.
Rosenwasser added that the research on the relationships between circadian rhythms, substance abuse, and exercise is growing, and that there is a strong suggestion that disruptions in these systems can lead to alcohol dependency. These studies may help develop exercise-based interventions for substance abuse disorders.
Source: Science Daily, Exercise May Be an Effective and Nonpharmacologic Treatment Option for Alcohol Dependence, June 23, 2010