Zero Alcohol Drink Alcohol Detoxification Clinicle Therapy

Alcoholics Curewell Zero Alcohol Drink (ZAD)
In Essence

By: Valerian Texeira

Zero Alcohol Drink (ZAD) basically represents a unique, simple and safe low-alcohol drinking treatment to get rid of alcohol dependence. I discovered it during the year 1999-2000, which thankfully removed or “ cured” my previous 15 years of chronic alcohol dependency or the so called alcoholic disease so given the name “Alcoholics Curewell”.

It led me to devise this step by step alcohol minimizing method, which I named as Zero alcohol Drink (ZAD). I believe, any alcohol dependent person in general can successfully get rid of his/her alcohol dependence or any such serious alcohol(ism) problems by adopting to this simple low-alcohol drinking method, which in “essence” as follows:


“Whenever taking to drink alcohol, always mix (or simultaneously consume) ‘progressively adequate proportion’ of appetizing non-alcoholic beverages to reduce its alcohol content sufficiently to safe enough lower levels and drink it stomach-full, for satiety”!--- In other words, people while in the alcohol dependence never to consume those potentially “dangerous” high-alcohol (generally around 5% and above) beverages, instead always to consume sufficiently enough of the “safe” low-alcohol (preferably around 2% or less alcohol content by volume) beverages having the appealing, delicious taste and flavor that primarily fulfills its drinkers overall drink satiety desire so successfully prevents them from falling into the excessive alcohol consumption and from the serious alcohol(ism) problems."

Please Note: This ZAD in “essence” provides sufficient enough information for an average person to know, understand, how to enable anyone to come out of their Alcohol Dependence. One need not read any further into this research paper unless they want to know more of its research details. It done mainly to shows all my research study efforts in this matter.

Further study into this matter led me to the finding of a major “Alcohol Research Misconduct”, which is what I strongly contend as the “Root-Cause” of all the serious alcohol(ism) problems including the drunk driving. One can find its most important papers published in my other blog site http://alcohol-research-misconduct.blogspot.com

Zero Alcohol Drink
Alcohol Detoxification Clinical Therapy
(ZAD-ADCT) Part I

“Alcohol-related death and disability account for even greater costs to life and longevity than those caused by tobacco use, according to the global burden of disease study sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank. This study puts alcohol’s global health impact on a par with unsafe sex and above tobacco in terms of its contribution to the total number of years of life lost to death and disability as recorded in Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs). In addition to chronic diseases that may affect drinkers after many years of heavy use, alcohol contributes to traumatic outcomes that kill or disable at a relatively young age, resulting in the loss of many years of life to death or disability.”—WHO, Global Alcohol Database 2006.[4]


Introduction

After suffering from a long 15 years of alcohol “Dependence” Syndrome[5] or alcoholism[6,7] as defined in the ICD-10[8] and DSM-IV[9], all these years failing miserably to keep on my total abstinence resolve and falling back into that same decadent “relapse”; lately then I was earnestly started trying to explore some alternative ways to this “total abstinence” to come out of my alcohol dependence without having to abstain from my alcohol drink. In other words, I badly needed to continue with my alcohol drink but at the same time desperately trying to get rid of my alcohol dependence or the “addiction”, which is what I used to call it then. (To know more on this please read the forward of my ZAD book given in the Alcoholics Curewell website[10]). Finally, wonderfully enough I found a simple and successful alcohol minimizing lower-alcohol beverage (LAB) drinking method, (“Necessity is the Mother of Invention”) that within some days had gradually removed my almost 15 years of alcohol dependence. All my alcohol “craving”, “impaired (loss of) control”, alcohol physical dependence (withdrawals) tolerance all it symptoms[7] syndrome[5] have completely gone. (I had severe alcoholism symptoms or the dependence syndrome and many of those reckless behavioural anecdotes, besides I was brewing and distilling the alcohol when I could not afford to buy it, of course only for my private use.) I became able to successfully come out of my alcohol dependence while continue to drink alcohol by adapting to this lower-alcohol beverage drinking!

Obviously, my above finding stands in sharp contrast with the prevailing alcoholism diagnostic prevention, treatment, and recovery doctrines, promulgated by the worldwide alcoholism prevention and treatment concerns specially the leading world health Establishments; WHO and the USDHHS. They declare in general that the “substance (alcohol) dependence syndrome” manifests in: “often strong, sometimes overpowering” [8] ‘psychoactive drug desire’ (“craving”) and “Not being able to stop drinking once drinking has begun”[9] due to its “impaired (loss of) control” symptoms. Therefore it is not possible to the alcohol “dependent” alcoholics to come out of their alcoholism while continue to drink alcohol. It basically implies that the only option so far for the alcohol dependents (alcoholics) to get recovery from their ‘alcohol dependence’ lies fundamentally in the ‘total abstinence’ from drinking alcohol. They claim; “alcoholism is a chronic…disease”… “Alcoholism cannot be cured”[6,7], “Cutting down” on drinking doesn’t work; ‘cutting out alcohol is necessary for a successful recovery’ etc. So, by all these accounts it seems in my case, I had proven them wrong. Some how I found a complete CURE for the alcoholism. Since adapting to this new low-alcohol drinking strategy, I became absolutely able to control my alcohol consumption to such a minimum levels which is far below than the establishments moderate, low-risk or the safe drinking limits promulgations[11, 12], nevertheless I continue to fully enjoy my alcohol drinking. I named my newly found lower-alcoholic beverage drinking technique or strategy for the prevention, treatment and complete cure for alcohol dependence/addiction (alcoholism) as the Zero Alcohol Drink (ZAD) “Method” and latter as the “ZAD Practice”.

ZAD Findings Earlier Publications

In the course of the year 1998, it became clear to me that I got completely cured of my alcohol addiction or alcoholism (dependence) by this ZAD method. In the next year 1999, I wrote and published this findings in this paper titled: A Scientific Method to Minimize Alcohol THE ZERO ALCOHOL DRINK THEORY’ and sent it mainly to the World Health Organization (WHO) and other leading worlds authorities health concerns in the field. There was not much of a response. So in the year 2000, ‘Alcoholics Curewell’ was born (mainly with the testimony of my friend Victor Pais) and published the book of the same title[13]. It was mostly a revised version of my first ZAD paper in the book form. Neither there was much response to it this time either, except two book reviews. (Its web copies available in our Alcoholics Curewell book review section[10]). Luckily then I got subscription in the Addict-L mailing list[14], which helped me to learn and know a lot about the current addiction field its peoples, lobbies, politics involved. In between the years 2000 and 2003 I wrote many ZAD perspective papers and other literatures which are all now in our Curewell website[10],which was launched in beginning of the year 2003. However, the concerned establishment authorities so far mostly remained silent and seem to have ignored my ZAD findings. Nevertheless I should admit that none of my previous ZAD book and the paper was compliant with the establishments “substance dependence” “terminologies” used in their disease classifications, diagnosis documents[8, 9]. So it became highly important on my part to venture into a new ZAD Alcoholism Research Study paper, which incorporates all those feedback suggestions, advises that I received to my previous ZAD papers as much as possible.


Publication of the Preceding “ZAD Alcoholism Research Papers”

Following all those feedbacks to my previous ZAD papers came my next biggest landmark venture: “The ZAD alcoholism research paper”, in which I carried out an extensive and critical alcoholism research study on the establishments alcoholism (alcohol dependence) doctrines conducted under my ZAD perspective, and published it under the title; “The WHO and USDHHS Promoted World Alcoholism Mess (The Biggest World Health Blunder)[2] and the “ZAD Practice paper series” [3] in conjunction. It was first published (paper and electronic version) in September 2004 and mainly sent to the authorities of the WHO and NIAAA and some selected journals in the field, also posted to the Addict-L mailing List[14] on 16-9-2004. In this paper [2,3] besides my critical analysis and unrelenting expostulation against the establishments “drug desire bigoted alcoholism doctrines for its total disregard for the primary biological “drink (thirst, taste, and the stomach) satiety desire involved in the alcohol drinking”, I was also careful to use those alcoholism terminologies approved by the research establishments, at the same time avoid those terminologies which they stopped using (the word “addiction” for example) for whatever reasons. Importantly in this paper I provided many empirical research evidences that endorses the validity of the ZAD model. However the most significant feature of this paper was a comprehensive presentation of the ZAD model so far, with its newly gained perspective of three basic innovative approaches. 1. The ZAD Practice 2. The ZAD Therapy 3. The ZAD Alcohol policy.


The ZAD Practice In Essence

As mentioned earlier, the newly revised ZAD model consists of three basic innovative approaches or constituent parts namely: 1). ZAD Practice 2). ZAD Clinical Therapy 3). ZAD Alcohol Policy. Among the three, the “ZAD Practice” remained at its hegemony. The nucleus or the essence of this ZAD “practice” or method, importantly summed up in the “principle key notes” of this paper, which states: - “WHENEVER TAKING TO DRINK ALCOHOL, ALWAYS MIX (OR SIMULTANEOUSLY CONSUME) ‘PROGRESSIVELY ADEQUATE PROPORTION’ OF APPETIZING NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES TO REDUCE ITS ALOCHOL CONTENT SUFFICIENTLY SAFE ENOUGH LOWER LEVELS AND DRINK IT STOMACHFUL, FOR SATIETY”. IN OTHER WORDS, PEOPLE WHILE IN THE ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE NEVER TO DRINK HIGH-ALCOHOL PERCENTAGE BEVERAGES INSTEAD ALWAYS TO CONSUME EXCLUSSIVELY AND SUFFICIENTLY ENOUGH LOW-ALCOHOL BEVERAGES (“LAB”, HAVING 2.5% OR LESS ALCOHOL CONTENT BY VOLUME) WITH THE APPEALING, DELICIOUS TASTE AND FLAVOR THAT PRIMARILY FULFILLS ITS DRINKERS OVERALL DRINK SATIETY DESIRE.

Need of A ZAD Alcoholism Research Paper Sequel

My preceding ZAD Alcoholism research papers [2,3] were mainly addressed at the worlds leading alcoholism health concerned Establishments particularly to the WHO (its Substance Abuse Department) and the USDHHS (its National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIAAA). --- In response to which the WHO Director sent me a sterile reply, telling me; “we are a technical agency” and for any of their consideration it needs to be published in the “peer reviewed journals”. Unfortunately, it was mostly the same ‘upright’ discouraging cold reply that they had send me in response to my first ZAD paper (latter the ZAD book) in 1999! On the other hand fortunately the letter I received from the NIAAA Directors was most amiable (it was indeed similar to their previous letters) and encouraging! In fact this ZAD-ADCT paper “sequel” mainly comes as the result of their advice to put forward some concrete ‘ZAD research proposal’ before them, so if it gets selected that may help me to continue with this ZAD research endeavor. However, apart from my purpose of submitting it before the NIAAA, the other main task intended by this paper most importantly is to overcome the entry barriers encountered by the ZAD practice in today’s alcoholism prevention and treatment field mentioned in the following section below.

Entry Barriers Encountered by the ZAD Practice

Although in my previous papers[2,3] the ZAD “Practice” has been projected at the forefront of the ZAD model, however latter in the years I began to realize it had its own limitations and problems in getting approved or accepted by the establishments involved in the prevention and treatment for the alcohol dependence due to the following main reasons: -

1). The strong alcoholism dogma of ‘drug desire’ that prevails worldwide today in the entire alcoholism establishments totally disregards the drink satiety desire involved in the alcoholism’ (which I have extensively dealt in my previous paper [2]). In this situation, from my underprivileged position, perhaps it is too early to expect the alcoholism prevention and treatment establishments and the affected people to abandon those age old dogmatic ‘total abstinence’ beliefs in favor of my ZAD practice!

2). Given my underprivileged position I have absolutely no medical institutional resources (clinics, hospitals) or any organizational, financial (NGO) support to go out and work in the field as this ZAD venture essentially demands. Moreover, I am already spending a substantial part of my own families earning and my productive time (which also cause a severe drain in my family income thus lots of predicament and hardship in our life) on this present ZAD alcoholism research study and its information disseminating work. Over and above now, venturing into its fieldwork is absolutely behind all my present resources. Apart from this, my experience in this endeavor so far taught me that the alcoholism establishments in this field would not accept any of my ZAD empirical evidence or the testimonials unless it is conducted under their recognizable institutional framework.

3). Anyone working in the field of alcoholism knows that the problem of “denial” and its “stigma” prevents most of the alcohol dependent people from seeking its treatment. Until the person not ready to admit that he has the problem and submits for the help one cannot administer its treatment. The main starting point of the alcoholism (dependence) treatment comes when they enter into the threshold of their alcohol detoxification (AW) facilities where they come overwhelmingly in large numbers, hundreds and thousands [15,16] in seeking treatment. This is the ideal starting point to offer our ZAD therapy to them. Therefore first of all, the ZAD model crucially needs to have some primary access into these existing alcohol detoxification treatment facilities (hospitals, clinics etc.), which is so far simply out of our reach.

4). Finally the most important of all is; so far the ZAD model had no comprehensive therapy to offer for those hundreds of thousands of people (pointed above) who get admitted into the hospitals seeking the alcohol detoxification (AW) treatment to get rid of their alcohol dependence! Unless the ZAD model devise a concrete alcohol detoxification (AW) treatment to these alcoholism treatment seekers at this critical stage then I realized it will be almost impossible for the ZAD model to enter into the existing alcoholism prevention, treatment field.

Fortunately now at this critical juncture the ZAD model succeeded in devising its so far greatest treatment venture in the form of this ZAD Alcohol Detoxification Clinical Trial (ZAD-ADCT) Therapy, deployed at its forefront, to persuade the concerned establishments in the first place that; like the total abstinence based conventional alcohol detoxification treatment it can also concretely undertake its own alcohol detoxification (AW) treatment to successfully remove the alcohol dependence, once and for all. In my previous paper[2], I have given the principle outline of this ZAD Clinical Therapy subject matter under the caption: “ZAD Clinical Therapy For Alcohol Dependence Treatment”. (I had also proposed the “ZAD Alcohol Policy” in that paper which I have also in mind to bring out independently as its another sequel paper). However in this sequel [1] I introduce many fundamental changes and present it in a renovated, dynamic form. Nevertheless, I still retain many of its important points that made it originally different from the conventional alcohol detoxification treatment.

Now before entering into the ZAD-ADCT therapy presentations let me first start with the ‘conventional total abstinence based Alcohol Detoxification alcoholism treatment’ perspective or the “overview” to know the basics of the alcohol detoxification treatments and fundamental difference between the two.

An Overview of the Conventional Alcohol Detoxification Treatment

Motoi Hayashida, M.D., Sc.D., a prominent researcher in the hitherto alcohol detoxification field comments at beginning paragraph of his research paper “An Overview of Outpatient and Inpatient Detoxification”[17] the following: “Alcohol detoxification can be defined as a period of medical treatment, usually including counseling, during which a person is helped to overcome physical and psychological dependence on alcohol (Chang and Kosten 1997). The immediate objectives of alcohol detoxification are to help the patient achieve a substance free state, relieve the immediate symptoms of withdrawal, and treat any co-morbid medical or psychiatric conditions. These objectives help prepare the patient for entry into long-term treatment or rehabilitation, the ultimate goal of detoxification (Swift 1997). The objectives of long-term treatment of rehabilitation include the long term maintenance of the alcohol free state and the incorporation of psychological, family and social interventions to help ensure its persistence (Swift 1997).”

The above research statement brilliantly sums up the conventional alcoholism treatments fundamental alcohol detoxification objectives in principle; i.e., ‘immediately to *achieve* a substance free state and in long term *maintenance* of this alcohol free state’-- in other words it is fundamentally “total abstinence” all in all. Total Abstinence is the basic foundation of the conventional alcohol detoxification treatment on which all the rest of their alcoholism prevention treatment and the alcoholics’ rehabilitation and recovery rests upon. They simply cannot comprehend any alcohol detoxification treatment for the alcohol dependents, which basically allow them the alcohol drinking (like the ZAD-ADCT) during their alcohol detoxification and the dependence treatment without having basically the total abstinence at its core.

The conventional Alcohol Detoxification Treatment (ADT) today has been administrated basically in two setups; the first one in the hospital or clinic (inpatient) settings and the second one in the ambulatory setting. [18]. This ambulatory setting is further divided into Hospital-Based day (out) patient Care[19] and the Home Detoxification [20]. There are many other important sources, which provide extensive details on the conventional alcohol detoxification treatments documentations [16, 21, 22, 23] that could help us to get a deeper understanding of this alcohol detoxification subject matter in general.

The Conventional ADT vs. The ZAD-ADCT

Like the conventional Alcohol Detoxification Therapy (ADT); the ZAD Alcohol Detoxification Clinical Trial therapy (ZAD-ADCT) that I am presenting in here also can be conducted equally in all the above-mentioned three treatment settings. However the fundamental differences between the conventional total abstinence and the ZAD alcohol detoxification treatment is that the “latter” stands diametrically opposite to the immediate “total abstinence” objectives of the “former”. The most interesting thing in here is the formers use of pharmacological drugs [16 to 25] in their alcohol detoxification (AW) treatment while totally banning the use of the drug alcohol. While on the other hand the ZAD strategically or judiciously use the drug alcohol and the drink satiety as a replacement or substitute to all the conventional pharmacological alcohol detoxification AW treatment medications (Benzodiazepines etc.) and its prevention drugs treatments like the disulfiram, nalrrexone, acamprosate etc. those pharmacotherapy’s commonly used in their immediate as well as in the long-term alcoholism treatments.

Further down, the ZAD-ADCT in its immediate alcohol detoxification (AW) treatment as well as in its long term (recovery) follow-up treatment basically use one and the same lower-alcohol beverages (LAB) drinking to get rid of the alcohol physical and psychological dependence and to cure them completely. However most of the conventional alcoholism treatments use the pharmacological drugs (baring some non-pharmacological “cold-turkey” treatments) specially the Benzodiazepines [16, 22] etc., in their immediate alcohol detoxification (AW) but at the same time they are highly apprehensive about these drugs causing extra drug dependence, or other adverse (side) effects therefore terminate its use within a short period or as soon as possible. Nevertheless in their further recovery treatment they start employing the alcohol aversive, opiate antagonist anti depression drugs like disulfiram (Antabuse®), naltrexone (ReVia™), Campral (acamprosate) [21, 22,24] and recently the Topiramate [25] and the “Ibogaine” (Howard S. Lotsof; Addict-L: ibogaine tours. 08 March 2004) pharmacotherapy when approved. All these drugs make their treatment still more complicated and controversial in the “drug free” sense! These contradictions get reflected in the strong differences arising between the “Minnesota” and the “Pennsylvania” Model of Recovery” (See; Lloyd Vacovsky: Addict-L, 10-8-2002).

However it is very important to know in here that even though the ZAD fundamentally disagree with the conventional alcohol detoxification’s total abstinence (alcohol free state) immediate and long-term objectives nevertheless, basically they both share the same “common goal” of the alcohol detoxification treatment mentioned in the following; “Alcohol detoxification can be defined as a period of medical treatment, usually including counseling, during which a person is helped to overcome physical and psychological dependence on alcohol (Chang and Kosten 1997)”[17]”. This gives us the great hopes that we both may realize the need to work together as the providers of alternative alcoholism treatment options to achieve our common goal to enable the alcohol dependents (alcoholics) to “overcome” their physical and psychological dependence on alcohol through out their life.

Most interestingly, there exists the “paradoxical” parallel between the two. The conventional total abstinence alcoholism treatments in the short term as well as on the longer run could potentially (biologically and psychologically) create desire, craving and temptation in those alcoholic people to drink and fall back into the same old or even worse kind of excessive amounts of alcohol consumption state or condition called as the “relapse”. According to the statistics an overwhelming majority of the alcohol dependent people who start to follow total abstinence tragically fall into the recidivism (relapse) within the first year. On the other hand the ZAD-ADCT claims that it could potentially turn the alcohol dependent into a very light or a social drinker who most of the times remain in a long time abstinence from the alcohol. Therefore, it is not right to assume that the ZAD model is against or in direct conflict with the total abstinence option. In fact, the ZAD model considers that the ZAD practice is the best, natural pathway of opting for any degree of alcohol abstinence (read our “Flexible ZAD Practice”[3]). What we fundamentally oppose is the establishments alcoholism dogma of total abstinence that instills fear psychosis, phobia, propagating falsehood about the alcohol drink causing the hidden abnormal (genetic) drug desire that specially turns the alcoholics getting out of control over its consumptions due its whatever mystical (“often strong, sometimes overpowering”) powers! They may have all their good intensions in promulgating such total abstinence dogmas but the main problem is; they encourage the persons “loss of (impaired) control” behavior while at the same time discouraging their any attempt to limit, reduce or control their drinking if they start it! In general, these conventional total abstinence based alcohol detoxification (AW) treatments brutally suppress the craving, urge, for the drink and spitefully deprive pleasure enjoyment of the drink satiety from the so called alcoholics lives, which could potentially backfire into the dreaded “relapse” bringing in tragic consequences in their life.

P.S. Continued Part II on the previous blog post.