addiction is a choice

Originally posted by Fetchmyjunk
Actually my grandfather was an alcoholic and even though he stopped drinking alcohol he substituted the alcohol with fizzy drinks, developed diabetes which killed him.

Originally posted by divegeester
Awful. How did the diabetes actually kill him?

Originally posted by Fetchmyjunk
Diabetes causes heart disease, and damages the nerves and kidneys. If not properly diagnosed or treated, it can lead to amputation, blindness, and even death.

Originally posted by divegeester
I was asking how diabetes killed your Grandfather.

Originally posted by Fetchmyjunk
Actually my grandfather was an alcoholic and even though he stopped drinking alcohol he substituted the alcohol with fizzy drinks, developed diabetes which killed him.

Originally posted by twhitehead
So, he stopped drinking alcohol, but clearly still had some compulsion to drink. What would you call that?
Also, it was the sugar that killed him. Diabetes is the bodies failure to properly handle sugar.
Diabetes is the name of the disease. You do not stop having diabetes just because you stop taking sugar.

Originally posted by Fetchmyjunk
So someone who has a compulsion to drink 'fizzy drinks' is now also an alcoholic? 😲

Originally posted by Fetchmyjunk
Actually my grandfather was an alcoholic and even though he stopped drinking alcohol he substituted the alcohol with fizzy drinks, developed diabetes which killed him.

Originally posted by apathist
Believe what? Addiction is a choice, you disagree but won't explain why. You say you already have explained - so a simple cut-n-paste would work. Since you find your comments unworthy of being repeated, why should I find them worthy of hunting down?

My Will is Weak, My Strength is Frail

A song on utter dependence on the powerful Savior Jesus Christ Who can Save.
Lyrics by Watchman Nee

YouTube

Originally posted by twhitehead
He is an addict, ie he experiences compulsions. He is only an alcoholic if he still experiences compulsion for alcohol. If he is drinking the fizzy drinks in order to control his compulsion for alcohol then he is still an alcoholic. If he no longer feels compulsions for alcohol but does feel compulsions for fizzy drinks then he is a fizzy-drink-aholic.
...[text shortened]... n for '-aholic' says nothing about whether or not a person is able to satisfy their compulsions.

Originally posted by Fetchmyjunk
So someone who can 'control' their compulsion to drink alcohol is an alcoholic? If I have a compulsion to drink alcohol yet I have never given in to that compulsion, you would still call me an alcoholic even if I have never had a drop of alcohol in my entire life?

I assume that by 'compulsion' you are referring to "a very strong desire to do something ...[text shortened]... e persistent impulse to perform an act"?

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/compulsion

Originally posted by avalanchethecat
There are many published resources detailing the investigations into the nature of addiction. From a cursory appraisal, it looks like this one gives a pretty good overview of the current understanding of the physiological changes in the brain.

http://web.as.uky.edu/biology/faculty/cooper/Bio380-Neurophysiology%20seminar/neural%20basis%20of%20addiction-Thompson.pdf

Originally posted by Fetchmyjunk
Cool, please quote the text that you think answers the questions I was addressing to Twhitehead. Thanks.

Originally posted by avalanchethecat
The conclusions are clearly stated under the heading 'conclusions' (in bold, first page). Is your first time looking at a peer reviewed scientific paper?