Abstract

The specter of addiction eventually involves everyone of the community. It is a three-fold problem of socio-economic, psychological, and physiological factors. The least understood is the physiological or biochemical aspect of addiction.

It has been postulated that an upset in carbohydrate metabolism may be a biochemical cause of addiction. Several avenues were employed to investigate this possible cause of addiction.

  1. A diet survey was conducted and revealed a greater consumption of refined carbohydrates, confections and alcoholic beverages in addicts.

  2. Five-hour oral glucose tolerance tests were performed on 7 addicts and 12 non-addicts. These tests revealed that there were decreased glucose tolerances among the addicts.

  3. A drug antagonist, Nalline, was given intramuscularly to observe its effect on blood sugar level between addicts and non-addicts. The addicts showed an appreciable increase in blood sugar levels in relation to the control group. They also showed fewer visible side effects to Nalline than the control group. Nalline is a derivative of morphine but antagonizes the depressive respiratory action of morphine. It is presently being used in detecting the presence of narcotics in the body.

An addiction questionnaire was distributed among 64 addicts. It was found that there was no correlation as to the length of addiction and the amount of heroin used in a day. Nor was there a correlation between age and incidence of addiction.

Also included in the questionnaire were questions on the incidence of diabetes in the addict population. There was a seemingly significant incidence of diabetes and familial diabetes among the addicts.

Although this study indicates there is a probable upset in carbohydrate metabolism in addicts, there is need for further investigations in the biochemical and physiological aspects of drug addiction.

Department

Nutrition

School

Graduate Studies

First Advisor

Phyllis Acosta

Second Advisor

Ruth Little

Third Advisor

Esther de la Cruz

Fourth Advisor

Charles T. Hurley

Fifth Advisor

William W. H. Pote, Jr.

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Degree Level

M.S.

Year Degree Awarded

1961

Date (Title Page)

6-1961

Language

English

Library of Congress/MESH Subject Headings

Substance Abuse; Carbohydrates -- metabolism

Type

Thesis

Page Count

x; 59

Digital Format

PDF

Digital Publisher

Loma Linda University Libraries

Usage Rights

This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Collection

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collection Website

http://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/

Repository

Loma Linda University. Del E. Webb Memorial Library. University Archives

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