Stieff Fredrick Von - Brain In Balance: Understanding the Genetics and Neurochemistry Behind Addiction and Sobriety

BRAIN IN BALANCE

UNDERSTANDING THE GENETICS AND NEUROCHEMISTRY BEHIND ADDICTION AND SOBRIETY

Fred erick Von Stieff M.D.

First Edition

Canyon Hill Publishing

Copyright 2011 by Fred erick Von Stieff M.D.

Kindle Edition published January 2012

ISBN 978-0-9839518-1-0

While we have tried to ensure the accuracy of the contents in this book, the author or publishers cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions found therein.

All rights reserved. This eBook is licensed for your personal use only. This eBook may not be resold or given away to other people. No part of this eBook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author. If you are reading this eBook but did not purchase it, you are requested to buy your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This edition was edited and prepared for publishing by Katie Jane Schuh de Juarez

Illustrations by Elizabeth Zunino

Cover design by Chen Design

www.braininbalancebook.com

Contents

About the Author

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1

The Brain A Complex, yet Predictable Organ

Rules for the Brain???

For Every Action, There is a Reaction

Why You Need to Know the Basics

Why Use This System

Chapter 2

Addressing Neurochemical Balances: Validity of this Method

A Common Methodological Blunder

Evaluation and Success

Relapse: The Measure of Achievement

No Longer Just a Theory

Chapter 3

Neurotransmitter Basics

The Serotonin System

The Dopamine System

The GABA System

The Glutamate System

The Opiate System

The Noradrenergic System

The Endocannabinoid System

The Acetylcholine System

The Neurotransmitter Systems Interdependence and Influence

Chapter 4

Genetics: The Source of Addiction

Inheritance on Chemical Dependency Problems

Basic Genetics

Neuroanatomy Basics

The Art of Brain Chemical Treatment

Searching for the Clues that Lead to Answers

Alcoholic Rats

The Depressant Antidepressant

The Powerful Drive to Feel (Better Than) Normal

An Application of the Inquiry Method

Chapter 5

Tolerance, Withdrawal, and Detoxification

Disabling Neurochemical Receptor Sites

Swarming Receptor Sites

Down-Regulation in the Hospital

Tolerance and Addiction

Tolerance Begets Withdrawal

Detoxification The Process of Up-Regulation

The Danger of Going Back

Chapter 6

Nature and Nurture

Neurotransmitters and Personality

Harnessing the Power of Neurotransmitters

Depression and Alcoholism

Long-Term Treatment of Genetic Imbalances

Chapter 7

The Power of Alcohol and Nicotine

The Most Powerful Drug and its Accomplice

Nicotine and Acetylcholine

Quitting the Nicotine

Why We Drink and Cannot Stop

The Magic of 28 Days

The Old Method of Treatment

The New Method of Treatment: Focus on the Cravings

Chapter 8

Treating Alcoholics

Addressing Underlying Problems

GABA versus Glutamate

Levels of Acute Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome

Combating Seizure Activity

How to Use the GABA System during the Detoxification Phase of Treatment

Medications to Suppress Cravings

Chapter 9

Memory and Chemical Dependency

Imprinting Memories

Memory How it Works and How it is Altered

Flashbacks and Blackouts

Altered Data Means Inaccurate Memories

Intuition

Fixing Perceptions and Reframing Data

Chapter 10

Assisting Alcoholics and Addicts:

Through Negotiations and in the Intensive Care Unit

Psychodynamics of an Alcoholic Resisting Treatment

Health Problems

Methods of Negotiation: Dealing with Alcoholics and Addicts Successfully

A Look at the ICU

Strategies in the ICU

Chapter 11

Victims of the Opiate Craze

Pain Management

Cross-Addiction: Alcohol and the Opiate System

Bipolar Patients and the Opiate System

The Devastating Effects of Opiate Abuse

Chapter 12

Treating Opiate Addiction

Common Treatment for Opiate Addicts

Use the GABA System

Getting Patients with Pain Control Issues Back on their Natural Opiates

Treating Underlying Disorders of Genetic Alcoholic Opiate Addicts

Opiates, GABA, and Dopamine

Summary of Treating Opiate Addicts

Chapter 13

The Future of Chemical Dependency Treatment

Know Your GABA: Use the Other Sites

Dopamine and Chemical Dependency: Why the Future of Dopaminergic Medications is so Important to the Field of Detoxification and Neurochemistry

Genetics Potential for Future Chemical Dependency Treatment

The Step in Between

How to Visualize Patients Neurotransmitter Systems

Instructions on How to Use the Neurotransmitter Diagram

Using Medications to Stop Cravings

An Introduction to a Drug Index

Drug Index

Case Studies

Case Study #1 Modafinil Detoxification

Case Study #2 Anticipating Neurotransmitter Reactions

Case Study #3 OxyContin Abuse

Case Study #4 Benzodiazepine and Opiate Detoxification of a Self-Medicating Bipolar Patient

Case Study #5 Benzodiazepine Withdrawal

Case Study #6 An Opiate and Alcohol Detoxification

Case Study #7 Bipolar Patient Addicted to Opiates

Case Study #8 A Genetic Alcoholic on Opiates

Case Study #9 Common Complications in the ICU

Case Study#10 Off the Ventilator and Extubated

Case Study #11 Acute Opiate Withdrawal in the Hospital

Case Study #12 Xanax and a GABA Deficiency

Case Study #13 Treating a Dopamine Deficiency

Case Study #14 The Unpredictable GABA1a Site

A Final Word

About the Author

Dr. Von Stieff is a recognized expert in the field of chemical dependency treatment. He is a board-certified addictionologist who has successfully detoxified over 20,000 patients in hospital-based programs. He has worked as the Medical Director for three different chemical dependency programs over the course of twenty years and is certified by the American Board of Addiction Medicine, the American Society of Addiction Medicine, and the California Society of Addiction Medicine. He is currently the Chief Medical Review Officer for the State of California and a legal expert in substance abuse, carrying additional titles in that field.

He comes from humble beginnings in central Nevada and started his higher education at the University of Nevada. He graduated from the University of California Irvine Medical School and then completed a family practice residency at the University of California Davis. He then began working at hospitals in the East Bay of San Francisco, where he not only worked in chemical dependency, but also spent time working as an assistant in both vascular surgery and brain surgery. It was during that time of striving to understand the brain better and working in a chemical dependency program, that he began to develop many new, innovative ideas about detoxification and treatment.

At first Dr. Von Stieff went through a phase of feeling distrust, annoyance, and even anger towards addicts and alcoholics, but he soon realized there was more behind their addiction than just a series of bad life choices. Something else was going on within their brains that provided a further explanation for their actions. After working with these addicted individuals that he once viewed as disgraceful, he found that they actually had a number of reputable qualities such as intelligence, charm, and humor. So what was the difference between them and the rest of society? They just had an affliction its source being neurochemical, which needed special treatment. They required innovative ways to keep them out of harms way and prevent them from losing their lives due to the consequences of some state of mind not in congruence with their character.