Can you become addicted to anything?

          Are you addicted to exercise? Addicted to food? Addicted to gambling? Researchers are proving that people can become addicted to anything that heightens the pleasure area of the brain.They are now examining brain scans from multiple tests, one being involved in women addicted to money. The scans proved that the women were happier when they received money, but also when they gave it to charity. The more money they received, the happier that they became. Rats are common "test dummies" and were used in an experiment involving cocaine. Drugs such as cocaine, lite up the pleasure centers and actually rewired the brain to increase cravings. You can compared the normal brain scans to the one addicted to cocaine and tell the difference, the addicted one's is lite up like the Fourth of July. Now doctors are considering if people can also become addicted to exercise. With the information they have now, the answer is pointing to yes because exercise releases endorphins and other "happy" brain chemicals and people become addicted to that happy feeling.
         Writer, Nicholas D. Kristof, is a very informative, but light - hearted writer. He jokes about his own possible addiction to exercise and keeps the tone light and enjoyable. He himself does now make any predictions about what future results might be, but is convinced that people can become addicted to anything. I found this article enjoyable to read and very interesting. I would like to see some of these brain scans to see for myself if people can really be addicted to anything.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/opinion/sunday/kristof-addicted-to-exercise.html?src=recg