May 20, 2015
“The Physiology of Addiction” was presented on Tuesday May 19, 2015 by Dr. Carl Christensen, MD, PhD, FACOG, FASAM. Addiction is a chronic brain disease involving complex physiologic processes. Inherent physiologic characteristics influence how individuals response to substances and individual vulnerability to addiction. The physiology of the brain and body are altered by use of alcohol and other drugs and also changes when a person enters into recovery. This program explores the differences in neurochemistry between the addicted brain and the normal brain, the progression of physiological changes that occur in chemically dependent individuals, the mechanisms of physiologic tolerance and withdrawal, medical complications of alcohol/other drug addiction and the effects of treatment on the addicted brain. This program is part of the Dawn Farm Education Series, a FREE, annual workshop series developed to provide accurate, helpful, hopeful, practical, current information about chemical dependency, recovery, family and related issues. The Education Series is organized by Dawn Farm, a non-profit community of programs providing a continuum of chemical dependency services. For information, please see http://www.dawnfarm.org/programs/education-series.