NOLTE: Well, I met Eric Braverman, Dr. Eric Braverman, at an anti-aging conference, and he was talking about brain first, that we know enough about the brain to do a brain checkup. We do a heart checkup. We do, you know, other checkups. Why not a brain checkup? And so, that entails being work, and it entails looking at the brain. And so for me this was the weakest area, being an addict and an alcoholic.
KING: How long have you been sober?
NOLTE: About 15 years, 15 years, with the use of AA club -- AA. And you know, we say in AA, it's a disease. Well, you know, scientifically, we have never been able to put our finger on where is the disease.
KING: Can't prove it.
NOLTE: Yes, can't prove it. So working with Braverman and looking at the bean, we could see that there was, in my brain, there's a -- there was a low-level, low-grade anxiety that is constantly there, probably been there from birth, and that led me into Kenneth Bloom and David Cummings who are doing the genetic research in addictions. And three years ago, they isolate an alcoholic gene, and now they've isolated more. I think 20 have been published or more. It's polymorphic, so it probably involves a lot of genes. And there is some thought that it's not only alcohol, but it involves any of the dopamine-type drugs that one -- I don't think the brain sets out to say, I'm going to drink a gallon of vodka because it's going to be fun. I think it's a medicine and a support medicine.
KING: Some brains want it, and some don't.
NOLTE: Yes.
KING: Some can handle it and some can't. Are you now, would you say, Nick, totally involved in the this?
NOLTE: Totally.
