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There is also evidence that pain-inhibitory effects of alcohol tend to be reduced among mice with lower concentrations of opioid receptors, and augmented among mice with greater concentrations of opioid receptors (Yirmiya & Taylor, 1989). Finally, there is some evidence that analgesic properties of alcohol may be partially mediated by availability of benzodiazepine receptors (Gatch, 1999). Given the analgesic effects of alcohol on pain, pervasiveness of alcohol use as a pain management strategy has proven to be substantial among individuals exhibiting pain.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Conversely, there is some prospective evidence that older adults who endorse more severe pain or a greater number of painful conditions may ultimately go on to reduce their alcohol consumption (Bobo, Greek, Klepinger, & Herting, 2012; Brennan et al., 2011; Brennan & Soohoo, 2013). However, each of these studies sampled older adults who did not necessarily have chronic pain, reported low levels of baseline drinking, and whose patterns of alcohol use may not generalize to other age groups. For example, an age-related decline in alcohol use tends to begin following young adulthood (Shaw et al., 2011), and older adults have evinced a general motivation to reduce alcohol use in response to health concerns (Dawson, Goldstein, & Grant, 2013).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Similarly, in a study of community-dwelling older adults, the prevalence of moderate-to-severe past-month pain among problem drinkers (43%) was greater than that observed among non-problem drinkers (30%; Brennan, Schutte, & Moos, 2005). Considering that alcohol use is contraindicated for use of prescription analgesics (FDA, 1998), it is possible that rates of heavy drinking may have been suppressed among some samples, perhaps because patients who use pain medications may be reluctant to report concurrent use of alcohol (e.g., Kim et al., 2013). The analgesic effects of alcohol on pain perception have been measured in a variety of ways, including examining pain threshold, tolerance, and pain ratings (e.g., intensity).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Likewise, people with chronic pain conditions are more likely to have family members with drinking problems (Goldberg et al., 1999; Katon et al., 1985). Another facet of this relationship is revealed in studies showing that people experiencing chronic pain turn to alcohol presumably for relief (e.g., Brennan et al., 2005; Riley and King, 2009). Dysfunction in the brain reward system seems to be considered as the prominent shared pathological link among these conditions 38. However, it is not clear why despite the overlap between neural pathways underlying chronic pain and alcohol abuse, as Effects of Alcohol on Each Part of the Body<\/a> well as the high comorbidity of both of those conditions with depression, the burden of depressive disorders is greater in people with ALC.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n