SSRI INDUCED ALCOHOLISM, VIOLENCE AND BEHAVIOURS WITHIN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-485544/Diana-inquest-Henri-Pauls-parents-told-wasnt-drunk.html

Diana inquest: Henri Paul's parents were told he wasn't drunk
Last updated at 23:49 03 October 2007

Henri Paul
Lord Stevens told Henri Paul's grieving parents that their son had not been drinking heavily on the night of the crash only because they were upset at accusations he had been as 'drunk as a pig'.

His remarks were contradicted a month later in the offical Operation Paget report into the tragedy which concluded Diana and Dodi died because Paul was drunk and speeding.

The clash has been seized on by Mohamed al Fayed who says it is proof that 'Establishment' figures want to cover up their murders.

Yesterday, however, the coroner revealed that the former police chief's comments had been taken out of context.

He had, he said, only been trying to 'reassure' Jean and Gisele Paul who had been deeply upset by newspaper reports that he was an alcoholic who had been drinking heavily in the hours before the accident.

He also confirmed that tests had shown Paul was twice the French drink drive limit and traces of Prozac were found in his blood.

Lord Justice Scott Baker said: "Henri Paul was the acting head of security at The Ritz Hotel.

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It is alleged he worked for security services in France or in the UK and was instrumental in carrying out the plan, either inadvertently or otherwise, to have Diana and Dodi murdered in the underpass - a plan which, of course, resulted in his own death.

"It is further said that it was publicly and erroneously put about that he was unfit to drive through drink in order to cover up the real cause of the crash.

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diana crash scene inquest pictures
"Henri Paul's role and his actions leading up to the crash in the early hours of Sunday 31 August are critical to assessing the conspiracy to murder allegations."

As acting head of security at the Ritz, the 41-year-old worked closely with both Dodi Fayed and Mohamed, though he was not normally used as a driver. He joined the hotel in 1986 and had been in his new job for just two months when he died.

He was described by fellow employees as a conscientious member of staff who, the coroner said, "would find it difficult to say No".

On the night of the accident, Paul left work at 7pm but was called back after Diana and Dodi unexpectedly returned to the hotel.

No-one has ever been able to fill in what he did during those "missing hours".

What is beyond doubt, however, is that Paul was seen in the bar of the Ritz Hotel between 10pm and midnight consuming at least two glasses of Ricard, an aniseed liqueur.

And while there is no evidence to prove that he had consumed any alcohol before then, it was perfectly likely as at that stage Paul did not know he would be called back to work - let alone to drive his boss's car.

Tests carried out on blood and other body samples after his death indicate that Paul was twice the legal limit when he died.

These range between 1.74g to 1.87grammes per litre of blood. The legal limit in France is 0.5 per litre.

Further tests showed that Paul had been taking a cocktail of drugs including prozac to combat depression and sleeping pills for insomnia.

His close friend and doctor, Dominic Melo, has told how he also prescribed him Aotol, a drug to stop cravings for alcohol after Paul said he had become concerned about his drinking and was suffering feelings of 'isolation'.

Mr al Fayed, the court heard, firmly believes that Paul's samples were tampered with or swopped with those of an unnamed person, although DNA tests have proved they were from him.

What does continue to puzzle investigators, however, is the level of carbon dioxide in his blood.

Although this could have been affected by smoking, levels of the gas in the driver's blood samples were 'very high', more than 20 per cent.

Lord Justice Scott Baker admitted yesterday that Paul should have shown noticeable signs of impairment before his death. "If the sample is from him, how did it get to that level?" he said.

He also outlined outstanding questions about Paul's finances at the time of his death. In his pockets were a surprising 12,565 French francs - around £1,256 --while a further £170,000 was discovered in several bank accounts. His salary at The Ritz was around £1,500 a month.

Mr al Fayed claims this is proof that he was an intelligence informant. Paul's mother, however, says hotel clients tipped him lavishly.

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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111115175354.htm

Serotonin system in women's brains is damaged more readily by alcohol than that in men’s brains, study finds
Date:
November 17, 2011
Source:
University of Gothenburg
Summary:
After only four years of problem drinking, a significant decrease in the function of the serotonin system in women’s brains can be seen. This is the system that regulates such functions as impulse control and mood. It takes 12 years before a corresponding decrease is seen in men.
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FULL STORY
After only four years of problem drinking, a significant decrease in the function of the serotonin system in women's brains can be seen. This is the system that regulates such functions as impulse control and mood. It takes 12 years before a corresponding decrease is seen in men. This is the conclusion of multidisciplinary research carried out at the Department of Psychology and the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

The research group in the multidisciplinary project Gothenburg Alcohol Research Project (GARP) has studied for the first time three of the major neurotransmitter substances in the brain in a single individual. They have studied a group of women and a group of men with alcohol dependence. The results will be published in January 2012 in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

"We have used what is known as neuroendocrine techniques to show that it is principally the serotonergic system in the brain that is seriously impaired by alcohol. This is the system that regulates impulse control and mood, among other functions," says Kristina Berglund, scientist at the Department of Psychology and representative for the research group.

Both men and women suffer adverse effects, but the effects arise much more rapidly in women. The results show that the function of women's serotonin system has fallen by 50% after as little as four years with problematic alcohol consumption, while it takes 12 years before the function of men's systems is halved.

"It is important to note that the damage is just as serious in men and women, but the time courses are different. We still don't know whether the serotonin system can repair itself, but there are research results showing that other damage to the brain can heal after a certain period without alcohol," says Ulf Berggren of the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg.

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Materials provided by University of Gothenburg. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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University of Gothenburg. "Serotonin system in women's brains is damaged more readily by alcohol than that in men’s brains, study finds." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 17 November 2011. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111115175354.htm>.

Normalizing Dopamine Levels in the Brain Can Reduce Alcohol Cravings Study Shows (2015)

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Normalizing Dopamine Levels in the Brain Can Reduce Alcohol Cravings Study Shows (2015)

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More than 16 million adults in the U.S. have an alcohol-use disorder
A scientific study has shown alcohol dependency can be treated by targeting the dopamine system.
Gautam Naik Oct. 14, 2015 12:27 p.m. ET
Scientists have shown that a drug that normalizes dopamine levels in the brain can reduce alcohol cravings in people dependent on drink.
The finding was based on two studies, one conducted on people and one on rats. In the human trial, patients who took the experimental drug showed a marked reduction in alcohol craving. A separate animal study suggested that the drug works by acting on dopamine levels.
“It is proof of concept” that alcohol dependency can be treated by targeting the dopamine system, said Pia Steensland, neuroscientist at Karolinska Institute in Sweden and co-author of both studies. “We need to do larger trials” to validate the results.
Current drugs for alcohol dependency aren’t especially effective. The population of patients is genetically diverse, so only certain subgroups benefit. Prescription rates are low. As a result, the need for better medicines is huge.
Alcohol makes the brain’s reward system release more dopamine than normal, triggering a feeling of well-being. But as more alcohol is drunk, the more the reward system is desensitized and the less dopamine is released. Eventually, a person drinks more alcohol not just to feel euphoric, but to attain a state of physical and emotional normality. Thus, addiction sets in.
More than 16 million adults in the U.S. have an alcohol-use disorder and nearly 88,000 people die each year from alcohol-related causes, according to the National Institutes of Health. In 2006, alcohol misuse cost the U.S. economy $223.5 billion, the NIH said.
For the human study, published Wednesday in the journal European Neuropsychopharmacology, scientists recruited 56 Swedish alcohol dependent men and women, who typically would drink the equivalent of a bottle of wine a day.
The participants abstained from drink for at least four days. Half were then given a placebo and half got OSU6162, a drug believed to stabilize dopamine levels. The patients were randomized and neither they nor the researchers knew who was getting the experimental drug and who was getting the placebo.
For two weeks, the participants could drink as much as they liked. On day 15, each person was offered a glass of their favorite drink. According to the study, the OSU group reported not enjoying their first sip as much as the placebo group. After the drink was finished, the OSU group reported a lower craving for alcohol compared to the placebo group.
In addition, those with the poorest impulse control—and thus at greater risk of relapse after a period of abstinence—responded best to the experimental drug.
Both the OSU and placebo groups reported only mild side effects. This is significant because other dopamine-based medicines, such as those used to treat schizophrenia, completely block dopamine and can lead to nasty side-effects, such as nausea.
The rights to OSU6162 are owned by Arvid Carlsson, professor emeritus at the Sahlgrenska Academy in Sweden and co-author of the human study. Dr. Carlsson, 92 years old, shared in the 2000 Nobel Prize for medicine for discovering that dopamine is a transmitter in the brain. His team also developed OSU6162.
To better understand how OSU6162 might work, Dr. Steensland and other researchers did a separate study on rats, also published Wednesday in the journal Addiction Biology. Rats that voluntarily drank alcohol over the course of almost a year had lower dopamine levels than animals that drank no alcohol. When OSU6162 was given to the “alcohol rats,” their dopamine levels returned to normal.
The human trial wasn’t designed to comprehensively evaluate whether the experimental drug could help people drink less. But because of the promising early-stage results, Dr. Steensland and her colleagues now hope to do a longer-term trial involving many more patients.
 
One step closer to a new drug for alcohol dependence
October 14, 2015
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the Sahlgrenska Academy in Sweden might be one step closer to finding an effective drug for alcohol dependence. In two separate studies, they show that the dopamine stabilizer OSU6162 can reduce the craving for alcohol in alcohol dependent people and normalises the level of dopamine in the brain reward system of rats that have consumed alcohol over a long period of time. However, thorough clinical studies are needed to determine if the OSU6162 also can help alcohol dependent people drink less alcohol.
"The results of our studies are promising, but there is still a long way to go before we have a marketable drug," says Pia Steensland, PhD, Associate Professo at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience of Karolinska Institutet, and co-author of both studies. "The socioeconomic costs of alcohol are huge, not to mention the human suffering. It is inspiring to continue working."
Roughly a million Swedes over 15 years of age drink so much alcohol that they risk damaging their health, and it is estimated that some 300,000 of these people are dependent. Despite the pressing need, there are only a few approved drugs for the treatment of alcohol dependence, but their effects vary from person to person and the prescriptions rates are low. Consequently the hunt for new, more efficacious drugs for alcohol dependence continues.
The studies of OSU6162 are based on the knowledge of how the brain reward system stimulates us to act in the interests of our own survival. Since dopamine creates a feeling of wellbeing, such as when we exercise or eat good food, the memory associates the two so that we will repeat the behaviour. Alcohol makes the brain reward system release more dopamine than normal, creating a pleasant euphoric sensation. However, the more alcohol drunk, the more the reward system is desensitised and the less dopamine is released. With time, greater volumes of alcohol are needed to cause intoxication and eventually to attain a state of physical and emotional normality - addiction has set in.
In the clinical study, which is published in the scientific journal European Neuropsychopharmacology¸ the scientists examined for the first time if OSU6162 can reduce the craving for alcohol in people with alcohol dependence. Half the participants were treated with OSU6162 and half with placebo for a fortnight, after which both groups were exposed to different situations that could be assumed to elicit a craving for alcohol. The results show that the experimental group experienced less of a craving for alcohol after drinking one glass of an alcoholic beverage.
"At the same time, the OSU6162 group reported not enjoying the first zip of alcohol as much as the placebo group," says Dr Steensland. "One interesting secondary finding was that those with the poorest impulse control, that is those thought to be most at risk of relapse after a period of abstinence, were those who responded best to the OSU6162 treatment."
A study of rats published at the same time in the scientific journal Addiction Biology adds to the understanding of how OSU6162 works, as it shows that rats that voluntarily consumed alcohol for almost a year had lower levels of dopamine in their brain reward system than rats that had never drunk alcohol. However, when the "alcohol rats" were treated with OSU6162 it was found that the substance counteracted the low concentrations of dopamine in the brain reward system.
"We therefore think that OSU6162 can reduce the alcohol craving in dependent people by returning the downregulated levels of dopamine in their brain reward system to normal," says Dr Steensland.
More information: 'The Effects of the Monoamine Stabilizer (-)-OSU6162 on Craving in Alcohol Dependent Individuals: A Human Laboratory Study', Lotfi Khemiri, Pia Steensland, Joar Guterstam, Olof Beck, Arvid Carlsson, Johan Franck, Nitya Jayaram-Lindström, European Neuropsychopharmacology, online 6 October 2015, doi:org/10.1016/j.euroneuro.2015.09.018.
'The Monoamine Stabilizer (-)-OSU6162 Counteracts Down-Regulated Dopamine Output in the Nucleus Accumbens of Long-Term Drinking Wistar Rats', Kristin Feltmann, Ida Fredriksson, Malin Wirf, Björn Schilström, Pia Steensland, Addiction Biology, online 14 October 2015, DOI: 10.1111/adb.12304.