A National Directory of Drug Treatment Centers and Alcohol Treatment Centers, Therapists and Specialists. A free, simple directory providing assistance and guidance for those seeking help regarding alcohol addiction, drug addiction, dependency and many other conditions that affect the mind, body and soul.
Call 888-647-0579 to speak with an alcohol or drug abuse counselor.

Who Answers?

Charles Lieber, pioneer in alcoholism research

Dr. Charles S. Lieber, who overturned conventional wisdom by demonstrating that alcohol is a toxin that can damage the liver and that alcoholism is a disease that can be treated, died March 1 at his home in Tenafly, N.J. He was 78 and had been battling stomach cancer.

Before his work in the 1970s, researchers had thought that alcohol itself was harmless and that cirrhosis of the liver occurred because most alcoholics suffered from malnutrition. Alcoholism was considered a moral defect.

Lieber showed otherwise and demonstrated that excessive drinking could change the metabolism in the liver to convert a number of normally harmless chemicals, including acetaminophen, into toxins.

“If you look at his contributions, we all owe Dr. Lieber an enormous debt of gratitude for helping to set into place the science that supports all the work around alcohol and alcoholism,” said Robert Lindsey, president and chief executive of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence.

“Even today, the government standards for how much a normal person can drink are based on his research,” added Dr. Norman Pace, a longtime researcher in alcoholism. “The most important thing you can say about him is ‘The guy should have gotten a Nobel Prize.'”

When Lieber began his work in the 1960s, physicians generally assumed alcohol was a relatively harmless chemical, like sugar, and the liver damage associated with excessive drinking occurred because the drinkers had a poor diet.

In hospital experiments in New York, Lieber fed baboons the equivalent of a fifth of liquor daily for up to four years and reported they developed cirrhosis even though their diet was very healthful.

He subsequently demonstrated the existence of two enzyme systems in the liver affected by persistent drinking and demonstrated that women – unlike men – do not have one of the enzymes in the lining of their stomachs. Lieber also showed alcohol consumption promotes hepatitis and pioneered the therapeutic use of the supplement S-adenosylmethionine or SAMe, to prevent liver toxicity.

Lieber is survived by his second wife, Dr. Maria Leo-Lieber; three daughters, two sons and six grandchildren.

source: Los Angeles Times

More Treatment & Detox Articles

Just what is a binge drinker and how to get through to them

Just as governments in Australia and Britain are on the brink of introducing new measures to combat alcohol abuse and binge drinking, new research says that campaigns warning about the harmful effect of excessive alcohol consumption don’t work. The researchers say they fail to work because they are widely ignored, in particular by young people….

Continue reading

Treat Alcoholism and Depression Together

A new study discovers a treatment regimen combining cognitive-behavioral therapy and medications for depression and alcohol addiction improves clinical outcomes. Specifically, combining the antidepressant sertraline (Zoloft) with the alcohol dependence treatment naltrexone produced a 54 percent abstinence rate in patients with both major depression and alcohol dependence, whereas the rates were only 21 to 28….

Continue reading

More American women dependent on alcohol: study

Los Angeles, May 10: Alcohol dependence has increased substantially among American women, particularly white and Hispanic women born since 1945, a new study shows. Alcohol use and dependence appear to have remained stable for men, while young Americans report having more lifetime alcohol problems than older Americans, despite having had less time to develop issues….

Continue reading

Where do calls go?

Calls to numbers on a specific treatment center listing will be routed to that treatment center. Calls to any general helpline will be answered or returned by one of the treatment providers listed, each of which is a paid advertiser: ARK Behavioral Health, Recovery Helpline, Alli Addiction Services.

By calling the helpline you agree to the terms of use. We do not receive any commission or fee that is dependent upon which treatment provider a caller chooses. There is no obligation to enter treatment.

I NEED TO TALK TO SOMEONE NOWI NEED TO TALK TO SOMEONE NOW 888-647-0579Response time about 1 min | Response rate 100%
Who Answers?