Why is alcohol withdrawal more deadly in comparison to “harder” drugs like heroin?
In: Biology
When the body develops a tolerance and adjusts receptor regulation to compensate for constant stimulation with drugs like opioids, these changes don’t cause any lethal changes when that stimulation is removed.
Alcohol acts on the GABA system in the brain, an inhibitory neurotransmitter that slows or stops unnecessary transmission of signals between neurons. Constant stimulation by alcohol causes the brain to produce more excitatory neurotransmitters and signals to allow the person to breathe, walk, talk, and function to a reasonable extent and compensate for the “slowing” effects of alcohol.
Once alcohol is removed from the equation, these compensatory mechanisms are still functioning at the level they were when alcohol was still dulling down neurotransmission in the brain, and the GABA system is functioning at a very low level, because alcohol was previously inhibiting brain function so much that the GABA system had very little reason to function on its own. So you run the risk of high blood pressure, delusions and hallucinations, and of greatest concern, seizures- due to unregulated hyperactive stimulation throughout the brain, and the inability of the brain to slow these signals to an appropriate level on its own.
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