Medical and Nutritional Complications of Alcoholism : Mechanisms and Management

In the Western world, alcohol is the most abused drug. recognized that a majority of patients with cirrhosis do For all the attention being directed toward heroin, co­ admit to excessive alcohol consumption. Other tissues caine, and marijuana, the favorite mood-altering drug in can also be severely affected, including brain, gut, the United States, as in almost every human society, is heart, endocrine systems, bone, blood, and muscle. A question often raised is, "In what way does an alcoholic alcohol. In nature, the fermentation of sugars is the differ from a nonalcoholic?" Inquiries have focused on major source of ethanol, but how humans first encoun­ tered it is unclear. It most likely occurred in either psychological make-up, behavioral differences, and socio­ fermented fruit juices (wine), fermented grain (beer), or economic factors. More recently, however, physical dif­ fermented honey (mead). Whether the Paleolithic Stone ferences have been delineated. Prior to the development Age man knew of ethanol is undetermined, but it is of various disease entities, chronic ethanol exposure abundantly clear that his Neolithic descendants were results in profound biochemical and morphological familiar with the product of fermentation. With the changes. Consequently, an alcoholic does not respond exception of the original inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, normally to alcohol, other drugs, or even other toxic the Australian aborigines, and some polar tribes, all agents. Front Matter....Pages i-xvi Metabolism of Ethanol....Pages 1-35 Acetaldehyde and Acetate....Pages 37-53 Alcohol, Hormones, and Metabolism....Pages 55-90 Ethanol and Lipid Disorders, Including Fatty Liver, Hyperlipemia, and Atherosclerosis....Pages 91-126 Effects of Ethanol on Amino Acid and Protein Metabolism....Pages 127-163 Interaction of Ethanol with Other Drugs....Pages 165-183 Alcohol and the Liver....Pages 185-239 Alcohol and the Hematologic System....Pages 241-281 Immunologic Reactions in Alcoholic Liver Disease....Pages 283-305 Alcohol and the Digestive Tract....Pages 307-340 Alcohol and the Pancreas....Pages 341-358 Cardiovascular Effects of Ethanol....Pages 359-401 Effects of Alcohol Abuse on Skeletal Muscle....Pages 403-412 The Effects of Alcohol on the Nervous System....Pages 413-457 Alcohol Abuse: Carcinogenic Effects and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome....Pages 459-493 Alcohol and the Kidney....Pages 495-513 Nutrition....Pages 515-530 Biological Markers of Alcoholism....Pages 531-563 Back Matter....Pages 565-579