Is alcoholism caused by Vitamin D deficiency?

[Otter]

I am not a doctor or a scientist but I noticed some interesting similarities between symptoms of alcoholism and MS and wonder whether the anxiety Dr. Ameisen talks about has something to do with nerve damage maybe caused by alcohol or maybe by genetics.

dvitamin

Alcohol And Vitamin D Deficiency | LIVESTRONG.COM

Vitamin D myths, facts and statistics


Vitamin D | Multiple Sclerosis Society UK

MS is caused by the loss of myelin which is the protective coating of nerves in the deep white matter of the brain. Alcoholism is also a demyelinating disease. Both have anxiety as a major symptom. Both are treatable with Baclofen.

Alcohol strips nerves of myelin causing anxiety which is then calmed with more alcohol and so on and on.

People in northern climates have greater problems with alcoholism because they get less sunlight and less vitamin D. BBC News - Vitamin D in food call to combat Scots MS

It's just a thought.

[MWOLady]

Is alcoholism caused by Vitamin D deficiency?

Don't know about the MS connection but part of my Tool Box is massive dose of Vit D - around 10,00 units daily, and Litebook light therapy - 1/2 hour in the morning. Seems to be helping. Also take Topa, GABA and 5htp.

Interesting and certainly can't hurt especially in the North.

[Otter]

Is alcoholism caused by Vitamin D deficiency?

Thanks for that. I suspected as much. Vitamin D is important in Myelin recovery and alcohol does strip out Myelin.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Is alcoholism caused by Vitamin D deficiency?

Vitamin D is one of the vitamins that one can overdose on. I take a lot of it, too, but I'm pale, have had skin cancer, avoid the sun and live well north of the equator. (Many, many, many people are Vitamin D deficient. Many more than those of us who are alcohol dependent.) (Also, women are more likely to be Vitamin D deficient. Women are less likely to be alcohol dependent.) (Though there is some correlation between lack of sun and alcohol abuse... Ditto Vitamin D deficiency and lack of sun. Obviously. But that would indicate that people with a plethura of Vitamin D, say those that live on a wide open, very sunny space, say Arizona, would not become alcohol dependent. But you can't tell me that there aren't Arizonian drunks. I know one!)

Nope. The MS and alcoholism connection doesn't hold water, either.

Baclofen treats the spasticity that MS causes, not the MS.

[Bruunhilde]

Is alcoholism caused by Vitamin D deficiency?

Very interesting points all around. Vitamin D seems to be one of many insufficiencies in alcoholism, I've thought about that myself. I don't think any one thing can be the single causal factor in all people. And I think my shealth has been bare for many years. I was anxious before the AL and worse after. Good point about the spasticity Ne.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Is alcoholism caused by Vitamin D deficiency?

Vitamin D comes from the sun. There isn't another single good source of it. It has very little to do with alcoholism, except in a very roundabout way.

[Otter]

Is alcoholism caused by Vitamin D deficiency?

Ne,

You say the MS/Alcoholism connection does not hold water. I think it may: Alcohol and drug abuse among persons with multiple sclerosis

I only throw these things out as ideas. I have had experience dealing with people with advanced alcoholism. I only now am putting things together like the fact that they have the shakes and suffer from huge anxiety and alcohol calms both down. One report I posted says that 90% of MS sufferers have anxiety. The two conditions, tremors and anxiety seems to go hand in hand and in places like Scotland there is a huge prevalence of MS and alcoholism and a lack of sun, and a lack of good nutrition amongst a certain element of society.

I just wonder what precipitates drinking. I am not saying everyone with alcohol problems has MS or some such thing. It seems to me though that when people drink to calm their nerves there is more of a neurological thing going on. Alcohol permeates through every part of our bodies and affects the nervous system. But what presdisposes some people to drink?

And...for those who think I am posting thinking I am a scientist, please bear in mind that when I end a post with the word Bonzer, I am not expecting the post to be picked up by Scientific American. It is called a hypothesis and I put it out there to stimulate a "polite" debate which might help in the understanding of the illness.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Is alcoholism caused by Vitamin D deficiency?

These things are fun (for some of us) to think about and perhaps discuss. However, there were times when I was solely focused on, or should have been, dealing with overcoming my disease by taking baclofen in order to get well. I was looking for specifics as to how to do it, and reassurance that it was safe, and that I wasn't actually losing my marbles taking a prescription medication, without a prescription, off label and without direct supervision.
During some of this I found myself distracted by very scared thoughts about whether or not I was also suffering from bipolar, autism, or some sort of schizoaffective disorder. This wasn't particularly helpful. It was actually kind of frightening. (Would I get sober to find out that there was actually something else? Something heretofore unseen?)
Turns out I was alcohol dependent. I stayed focused long enough to figure that out, and to take baclofen to cure it. Anything else, on this forum that offers support and information for people who are struggling to become un-addicted, is beside the point.

I like guesses and mysteries as much as the next person, and am prone to making them myself. I am also pretty consumed with searching out the answers, as they relate to my disease and baclofen in particular. So I suggest we come up with some mutual understanding and ground rules.

I'll start with what I think is a big one: Any assertions must be prefaced with "I'm not a medical person and this is just a fun-type-discussion-provoking thought. NOT medical info, research, or conclusive in any way."
And sorry, but one more: Independent threads, or one consolidated thread. NOT spread all over, and not on threads that people have a vested interest in. It's just rude. Right? Like butting into the middle of a discussion with some random tangent. As I am not actually autistic, I get it.

Yours might include a no profanity preference. For example.

And if that's the case, and we agree to some terms, then I would (and will) argue that if vitamin D played any part, at all, in either MS or in alcohol-dependence than those peoples living at the equator would not be affected by either. I have only been to the equator on this side of the globe, but I can tell you that there is a huge problem with addiction. I would argue, just on the basis of my own experience and knowledge, that addiction would rival (percentage wise) any country in the world, by comparison. So. My conclusion is that your hypothesis about vitamin D doesn't make sense.

Short version: sunny=+vitamin D=no alcoholism. Doesn't equal up Otter. Sorry. Next!

[Otter]

Is alcoholism caused by Vitamin D deficiency?

Ne, you say there is no link between Vitamin D deficiency and MS. Have a look at this: BBC News - Rare gene links vitamin D and multiple sclerosis

I just put the idea out there for anyone to respond to, for what it is worth.

As for posting scientific or quasi scientific ideas here, I do it because I want to get some feedback and this is the only place you can find a lot of people who are knowledgeable about alcoholism.

[SlipperyPete]

Is alcoholism caused by Vitamin D deficiency?

At the risk of looking like a flip-flopper, when you posted this, Otter, something struck a chord:

otter wrote: I only throw these things out as ideas. I have had experience dealing with people with advanced alcoholism. I only now am putting things together like the fact that they have the shakes and suffer from huge anxiety and alcohol calms both down. One report I posted says that 90% of MS sufferers have anxiety. The two conditions, tremors and anxiety seems to go hand in hand and in places like Scotland there is a huge prevalence of MS and alcoholism and a lack of sun, and a lack of good nutrition amongst a certain element of society.

To those that don't read any of the blog threads, I've been going off lately on how awesome the "Paleo diet" is. In a nutshell, it's about eating whole, real foods, sort of like trying to mimic how our Paleolithic ancestors ate. Grains, legumes, and dairy are all off-limits, as they are loaded with toxins, which cause gut permeability, which leads to inflammation. I listen to podcasts from a Paleo research biochemist who talks about healing diseases of inflammation, such as Multiple Sclerosis. Apparently it can be reversed in most people by eating a Paleo diet. One of the supplements he says that everyone needs more of is Vitamin D (and magnesium). Then add to the fact that my anxiety has been drastically reduced by eating a Paleo diet, and it gets kind of interesting. But the final straw that made me post this was when you mentioned Ameisen and his theory about alcoholism and the limbic system. I Wiki'd the limbic system and it's also called the Paleomammalian brain. Freaky!

I also have been kicking around a theory about carbs, especially from grains, alcoholism, and anxiety. I was a fiend for pasta growing up.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Is alcoholism caused by Vitamin D deficiency?

Ok. Title of the thread: Is alcoholism caused by vitamin D deficiency? Answer: Unequivocal no.

Is there a cause and effect connection between MS and alcoholism? Nope. I don't have time to look this up, however. But I'm open to reading what you find. A connection to the CNS isn't enough.

Is there a relationship between the way that bac works for spasticity in patients with MS, and the way it works in people who are alcohol dependent? Nope. Again, that's my assertion and I'm not going to back it up. But it could be a fun debate.

Does anxiety cause MS? Nope.
If I had MS would I be very anxious? Oh, yeah. I might even develop a chemical imbalance, or have a preexisting one emerge, OR I could already be an alcoholic, and get MS. Ya' know? I wonder how many respondents they asked, "Were you a drunk before, or after your diagnosis?" And take that a little further, I wonder if the (presumed, based on your post) prevalence of alcoholism in this population has more to do with the fact that it is reported because they see doctors all the time? And underreported in the general population because we hide it so well? (Just an unsupported assertion, there.)

Does anxiety cause alcoholism? hmmmm. OA says yes. Terryk says no. I say the two are related. And that could be a very fun discussion.

Is bac anxiolytic? Yep. That's been pretty well established. Though come to think of it, I've never actually seen anything that supports that, in terms of research. Have you got anything? Or am I forgetting something?

That's all I've got time for. Hopefully the school website will be back up any moment, and I can get some work done, otherwise I'll be very anxious. And stressed. I hope I don't get MS. Or alcoholism.

[Otter]

Is alcoholism caused by Vitamin D deficiency?

There are also studies on the connection between alcoholism, Vitamin D and sunlight:

Recent Developments in Alcoholism - Marc Galanter - Google Books

[Otter]

Is alcoholism caused by Vitamin D deficiency?

I was not saying there is a cause and effect relationship between the alcoholism and MS, only that the symptoms of each are similar, spasm/tremor and anxiety.

I did not say anxiety causes MS. I said that 90% of people with MS suffer from anxiety, according to the study I posted. Is it psychological or is it neurological? IMO it is the latter.

There seems to be a connection between nerve damage and anxiety. The supraspinal anxiolytic effect of b... [Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 1990] - PubMed - NCBI

My view is that there is a connection between anxiety and spasm/tremor and that both originate from nerve condition which can predate alcohol comsumtion or be caused by it and that Vitamin D is key to this.

[Otter]

Is alcoholism caused by Vitamin D deficiency?

SP

I just came across all his myself. The Limbic system is the old brain that animals have whereas humans have a cerebral cortex so it makes sense that this sort of diet should work. After all, animals don't make alcohol and are perfectly fine on that kind of diet.

I just think there is something missing in all this.

[thewife]

Is alcoholism caused by Vitamin D deficiency?

i doubt that alcoholism is caused by a vitamin d deficiency. there are plenty of alcoholics who spend hours in the sun, in South America, Africa, Mexico and who have no vitamin D deficiency at all. There isn't one link that every one shares. There are genes and how we express our genes. Some one may have genetics that say they should be an alcoholics but they are not, some how they get lucky to avoid it. There are others with no family history of it, but something (trauma, depression) has made it more likely to fester into it. Alcohol changes the way a normal brains functions. There are a million different things that lead to the disease how we were raised, our child hoods and how we respond to stress and rewards. I do think some things that we do can help ease the cravings, but the problem is still there lurking....what makes some one want to drink even when they know the consequences, even in the face of death...the deep root of the problem. It is a personal mystery that we have to try to understand for ourselves, everyone will come up with their own reasons and some may never know, but it takes a lot of healing and using whatever tools you can to save yourself.