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Our good old Harry Potter has publicly confessed to being a victim of alcohol addiction. Co star Emma Watson better known as Hermoine was rather taken aback when she heard about Radcliffe's alcohol addiction, the reason behind this being that he never looked stressed or sick due to his alcohol addiction. Also his work was never affected by his alcohol addiction as he always came across as a very hardworking and professional actor. Luckily the actress is very different from Radcliffe when it comes to consumption of addictive substances and even after having tried intoxicating substances claims to exercise reasonable control over herself, Even though she admits to have gotten really drunk at times, she definitely does not suffer from alcohol addiction unlike her co-star and close friend Daniel Radcliffe aka Harry Potter.

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It has been found by researchers from the United States and Australia that an appetite for salt is related to drug addiction to some extent. It is related to animal instinct and this mechanism is affected by compounds which are addictive in nature like opiates, which could help to explain patterns of drug addiction and abuse. It is established that animals with more need for salt and avoid predators. This was all that was known earlier and no link was established with drug addiction.
But now scientists from the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC, and the University of Melbourne have identified, that the genes get activated in the hypothalamus. More salt consumption by people who are prone to it gives effect and activates genes which are the same ones that are regulated by cocaine and opiates, such as heroin. The team found that hunger for salt also caused another region of the hypothalamus to get activated to dopamine which is a reward hormone; this makes the brain feel gratification when it meets its demand or need for salt. This could help to explain the same feeling that one gets while using drugs. Derek Denton, University of Melbourne said, 'It has been postulated previously that drug addiction is like an instinct, in that it is compelling, and gratifying.'
This also explains why nicotine is given to smokers and methadone is given to victims of drug addiction to cure them.

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The state of Baltimore has for decades suffered from large levels of drug and alcohol addiction. So it is good news for the general public when the University at Maryland Medical Center began offering new residency programs for treating alcohol addiction.
The attitudes of the medical community towards drug and alcohol addiction have changed fast and now it is treated more like a chronic illness rather than a problem for psychiatrists.
Naltrexone is a drug which produces blocking effects in alcoholics and hence stops their craving for alcohol. Counseling and social support services such as housing and employment assistance help them fight their alcohol addiction.
The last five years have seen the number of people getting treated for their drug and alcohol addiction problems increase in significant numbers. The cost of these residency programs range from a few thousand dollars to $20,000 a month depending on the type of treatment center the patient decides on.