>This marks, by the way, a difference between addiction and chronic diseases like diabetes, with which the surgeon general compares it. Both diabetes and alcoho

>This marks, by the way, a difference between addiction and chronic diseases like diabetes, with which the surgeon general compares it. Both diabetes and alcohol or drug addiction have life style components. Bad diet and low levels of exercise trigger type 2 diabetes in those prone to the disease. In a similar way, drug abuse causes addiction. But diabetes comes down, finally, to a difficulty managing glucose levels in the blood. You can't say that addiction boils down to something straightforwardly physiological in the same sort of way Is diabetes really that straightforward? Diabetes and heart disease are linked to obesity which is linked to diet and exercise. Most people who are pre-diabetic or hypertensive can reverse their condition through lifestyle changes, yet most fail to do so. And I would disagree that addiction lacks a physiological component in its later stages. Withdrawals are absolutely a physiological phenomenon and a big reason why people continue to use.