Vaccine would give intense hangover after one sip of alcohol

[gollygee]

Good idea for those trying to stop drinking?

http://www.newser.com/story/161724/vaccine-will-give-you-hangover-after-just-one-sip.html


(NEWSER) – Imagine having a vicious hangover after just one sip of booze. Alcoholics around the world will face that very nightmare scenario if an experimental vaccine reaches the marketplace, the Daily Mail reports. Scientists at the University of Chile have designed a drug they say will give anyone who consumes alcohol an accelerated heartbeat, intense nausea, and general sickness. The vaccine works by telling the liver not to express genes that metabolize alcohol—but a scientist involved in the study warns it's no cure-all.

"People who end up alcoholic have a social problem, a personality problem because they’re shy, whatever, and then they are depressed, so it’s not so simple," he tells the Santiago Times. But solving the chemical aspect of alcoholism "could help quite a bit." The vaccine is scheduled to undergo a preclinical trial on mice next month before being tested on people in November. It resembles an old drug called Disulfiram, which was so awful that people simply stopped taking it. But the new vaccine would last for 6 solid months upon injection.

[RayTy]

1. i would say give this to convicted drunk drivers

[bunnies]

2. Clockwork Orange anyone?

How creepy.

[customerserviceguy]

8. I'm with you there

I can envision this being administered without consent, from a variety of entities, ranging from government to vindictive exes. And it frightens me even to contemplate the so-called "consent" cases.

[bunnies]

9. exactly.

And dont you just love how theyre calling it a "vaccine"?! Hmmm. Mandatory vaccination until the age of 21? That would NEVER happen.

[gollygee]

10. I thought the word "vaccine" was a strange one for this

Isn't a vaccine specifically to protect you from catching some contagious disease?

[Coyote_Tan]

11. Hazard of calling alcoholism a disease...

[gollygee]

13. Well it isn't contagious regardless

Aren't vaccines just to give "herd immunity"?

[Skip Intro]

16. Indeed. If banning of guns can save "just one life..."

Can mandatory vaccines, using the same justification, be far behind?

[hobbit709]

3. Wonder what other side effects it will have?

you know, like the ones they gloss over so fast in the commercials.

[randome]

5. In concept, I don't have a problem with it, but what else might it do to the liver?

It sounds too good to be true that it would only affect the liver in 'good' ways.

[Th1onein]

15. Alcohol is toxic to the central nervous system--this is WHY we need that enzyme.

This is one of the worst ideas I've seen in a long time.

You'd be much safer increasing glycogen synthesis. I suspect that it is the suppression of glycogen synthesis in alcoholics that causes the cravings for alcohol.

[Takket]

4. yikes

"vaccine works by telling the liver not to express genes that metabolize alcohol"

I don't think it is a good idea to mess around with the functioning of the liver. That could have some pretty brutal side effects that make a hangover look like a picnic.

[elleng]

6. The guy is wrong, saying

"People who end up alcoholic have a social problem, a personality problem because they’re shy, whatever, and then they are depressed, so it’s not so simple."

People don't 'end up' alcoholic, they/we either are or are not; its a genetic thing. http://www.lakesidemilam.com/UnderTheInfluence.htm

This vaccine might help alcoholics, and heavy drinkers, by providing a stronger incentive to stop drinking than other approaches,

[cbayer]

7. Six months? That's too long, imo. What's wrong with Antabuse?

It does the same thing but has a much shorter half life.

The problem is that sometimes it may be necessary to be exposed to alcohol. It's in all kinds of products and medical supplies. People on Antabuse (disulfarim) can stop temporarily if the need be. With this product, they will be in jeopardy for 6 months. That's just too long, imo.

[seabeyond]

12. i watched my brother destroy his life for 3 decades. it is the genetic alcholism, that is so

horrible.

his son is walking in his footsteps and he is only 19. we have a clear path he is taking. as we did with my brother, because of seeing moms brother.

my brother couldnt live without his alcohol. i do not believe. but, it is not too late for his son. (his other two kids refuse to drink).

if i could get that boy to do something like this, i would be all for it. anything to help him not walk this destructive path.

[Th1onein]

14. I don't think this is a good idea.

Especially for determined drinkers. The enzyme whose gene they are suppressing is alcohol dehydrogenase, which is necessary for the proper metabolism of alcohol.

Don't get me wrong--I understand that that is the purpose of suppressing the expression of this enzyme, but alcohol dehydrogenase has more than just this function.