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Results for “Alcoholism”

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PubMed1987

Endotoxemia in patients with alcoholic and non-alcoholic cirrhosis and in subjects with no evidence of chronic liver disease following acute alcohol excess.

The presence of endotoxemia in peripheral venous blood was evaluated in 88 patients with alcoholic cirrhosis (AC) and in 42 patients with non-alcoholic cirrhosis (NAC). The two groups did not differ significantly with respect to mean age, liver function tests, and incidence of esophageal varices or ascites. In addition, a group of 24 patients with no evidence of chronic liver disease but with acute exposure to large quantities of alcoholic beverages was investigated. Endotoxin was determined by using the Limulus lysate test. The assays were carried out in the plasma samples by both the dilution technique and the chloroform extraction method. Endotoxemia was found more frequently in patients with AC (67.3%) than in patients with NAC (45.5%, P less than 0.025). The prevalence of endotoxemia was not significantly higher in cirrhotics with ascites or esophageal varices when compared to the subgroup without ascites or esophageal varices. Of the 24 patients with no evidence of chronic liver disease investigated because of acute alcohol excess immediately before admission 11 (45.7%) were found to have endotoxin in the peripheral venous blood. In 7 of these patients a second blood sample was tested 5-8 days later and no endotoxin could be detected. The latter results suggest that heavy alcohol abuse leads to transient endotoxemia even in patients with no signs of chronic liver disease. The findings support the hypothesis that gut-derived endotoxins might play a role in the initiation and aggravation of alcohol-induced liver disease.

Adult↗

PubMed1990

Comparison of the Self-Administered Alcoholism Screening Test (SAAST) and the Khavari Alcohol Test (KAT): results from an alcoholic population and their collaterals.

This study examined the reports of patients and their collaterals on drinking practices, as measured by the summary scale of the Khavari Alcohol Test (the annual absolute alcohol intake, AAAI) and alcohol related behavioral patterns, as assessed by the Self-Administered Alcoholism Screening Test (SAAST). In- and outpatients from two Milwaukee area substance abuse treatment hospitals, and a number of their collaterals, participated in this study. Patients' and collaterals' responses on the AAAI and the SAAST were compared through the use of a paired t test. Results indicated no significant differences between patients' self-reports compared with collateral reports, and demonstrated a direct relationship on the AAAI (two tailed p less than 0.001) and SAAST (two-tailed p less than 0.001). Self-reports of patients who volunteered collaterals compared with self-reports of patients who did not volunteer collaterals also showed no significant differences on the AAAI or the SAAST, demonstrating consistency of reporting whether the patients believed their reports would be compared with information provided by a collateral or not. The AAAI and the SAAST corroborated in their diagnoses of patients as suffering from alcoholism (r = 0.515, p less than 0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed no significant effect of demographic variables on either the AAAI or the SAAST. This study shows: (a) impressive concordance between patient and collateral reports; (2) apparent intactness of memory, and little evidence of denial, as measured by the instruments; and (3) the efficacy of measures such as the AAAI and the SAAST, two vastly different scales measuring dimensions of alcoholism.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Measuring alcohol abuse in the community: consumption, binge-drinking, and alcohol-related consequences ("alcoholism").

This study reported and compared community health indicators for the measurement of alcohol abuse. Using data from the 1989 Hamilton-Wentworth Health Survey, similar rates were found for four differing definitions of alcohol abuse: 1) drinking everyday (5.7%, 95% confidence limit (CL) = 3.8-7.7%), 2) drinking at least 14 drinks in the past seven days (12.1%, 95% CL = 9.2-15.1%), 3) frequent binging on 10 drinks or more (9.4%, 95% CL = 6.9-11.8%), and 4) "alcoholism" as defined by the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) (7.4%, 95% CL = 5.1-9.7%). Binging on five drinks or more occurred frequently (37.0, 95% CL = 32.8-41.1%). All indicators of alcohol abuse from the survey were significantly higher for males as compared to females (p < 0.05), and demonstrated varying distributions by age. Estimates of drinking consumption based on the sale of alcoholic beverages in the community were also examined and found to estimate consumption levels nearly double that of the self-reported survey data. Relevance to public health planning and monitoring is discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1992

The definition of alcoholism. The Joint Committee of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and the American Society of Addiction Medicine to Study the Definition and Criteria for the Diagnosis of Alcoholism.

To establish a more precise use of the term alcoholism, a 23-member multidisciplinary committee of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and the American Society of Addiction Medicine conducted a 2-year study of the definition of alcoholism in the light of current concepts. The goals of the committee were to create by consensus a revised definition that is (1) scientifically valid, (2) clinically useful, and (3) understandable by the general public. Therefore, the committee agreed to define alcoholism as a primary, chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. The disease is often progressive and fatal. It is characterized by impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with the drug alcohol, use of alcohol despite adverse consequences, and distortions in thinking, most notably denial. Each of these symptoms may be continuous or periodic.

Alcoholism↗

PubMed1989

Alcohol-induced bone marrow damage: status before and after a 4-week period of abstinence from alcohol with or without disulfiram. A randomized bone marrow study in alcohol-dependent individuals.

The investigation described in this paper has confirmed the existence of alcohol-induced bone marrow damage as a nosological entity in alcohol-dependent individuals. In our patients total abstinence from alcohol without disulfiram or similar drugs led to reversal of the pathological findings in peripheral blood and in bone marrow. In patients undergoing detoxification while taking disulfiram, on the other hand, the pathological bone marrow findings, especially erythropoiesis associated with impaired iron utilization, persisted. The metabolic pathway of disulfiram is discussed. It is probably justifiable to assume that the toxin responsible for alcohol-induced bone marrow damage is the ethanol metabolite acetaldehyde. The persistence of erythropoiesis with impaired iron utilization during abstinence from alcohol and treatment with disulfiram is also of importance in differential diagnosis from the myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), and especially from refractory anaemia with ring sideroblasts (RARS). For this reason, where the situation is unclear, it is essential that a diagnosis of MDS be supported by specific investigations such as cell cultures, cytogenetic analyses, etc. It is the first time that the toxic, alcohol-like-effect of disulfiram on haematopoiesis is discussed.

Alcoholism↗

PubMed1992

Clinicopathologic study of alcohol-like liver disease in non-alcoholics; non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and fibrosis.

Alcohol-like liver injury (ALLI) in non-alcoholics has not been elucidated in Japan. The present study attempted to characterize the clinicopathologic features of ALLI in routine liver biopsies. ALLI was found in 1% of 561 biopsy cases obtained from 1988 to May, 1991 at Kanazawa University Hospital. Laboratory data characteristically showed only a mild to moderate degree of dysfunction, and none of the cases exhibited jaundice. Hepatic histology showed a mild to moderate degree of perivenular, pericellular and/or portal stellate fibrosis with a varying degree of fatty change and inflammatory cell infiltration. Portal stellate fibrosis with a varying degree of cell infiltration was more severe than the centrilobular or pericellular fibrosis in all cases. Intralobular inflammatory cell infiltration was associated with spotty or single hepatocyte necrosis, but extensive hepatocyte necrosis was not observed. Neutrophil infiltration was absent or minimal, and lymphocytes predominated in all cases. Mallory bodies were rare and were found in a few hepatocytes of only one of the 7 cases. The above histologic findings in ALLI were very similar to those seen in liver disease in Japanese alcoholics, and were somewhat different from ALLI reported in Western countries. In cases in which hepatic fibrosis, characterized by pericellular, perivenular or portal stellate fibrosis dominated without apparent hepatic necrosis and inflammation, the term "non-alcoholic steatofibrosis" is more suitable to depict its liver histology, being very similar to the alcoholic fibrosis frequently seen in Japanese alcoholics.

Adult↗

PubMed1985

Endogenous breath acetaldehyde levels among alcoholic and non-alcoholic probands: effect of alcohol use and smoking.

The effects of possible confounding factors on endogenous breath acetaldehyde levels were examined in alcoholic and non-alcoholic subjects. Demographic characteristics, family history for alcoholism, smoking and drinking history, and breath acetaldehyde levels were assessed. Differences in endogenous breath acetaldehyde levels could not be attributed to age, sex, or having a family history positive for alcoholism. Individuals who smoke or abuse alcohol had higher endogenous breath acetaldehyde levels than persons who did not.

Acetaldehyde↗

PubMed1988

Risk for alcoholism: a comparison between two different groups of sons of alcoholics on cardiovascular reactivity and sensitivity to alcohol.

Two groups of sons of alcoholic fathers of differing family pedigrees for alcoholism [multigenerational (MGH) versus unigenerational (UGH)] were compared on measures of cardiovascular reactivity to unavoidable shock under alcohol and no alcohol consumption conditions. The MGH subjects were significantly more reactive than UGH subjects to the shock procedure on a measure of peripheral vasoconstriction (digital blood volume amplitude) with a similar trend on heart rate. The MGH subjects were significantly more sensitive to the reactivity dampening effects of alcohol than the UGH subjects on both cardiovascular measures. MGH subjects were also significantly more alexithymic than UGH subjects. The results are discussed in terms of the potential etiological significance of these characteristics in MGH males, and the importance of delineating the family history for at least two generations when assigning risk status to potential subjects.

Adult↗

PubMed1986

The relationships among alcohol availability, alcohol consumption and alcohol-related damage in the Province of Ontario and the State of Michigan 1955-1982.

This study examines the relationships among the relative price of alcohol, per capita alcohol consumption and liver cirrhosis mortality rates over a 28 year period in Ontario and Michigan. A high, positive association between per capita consumption and liver cirrhosis mortality was observed for both jurisdictions. In both areas, changes in the relative price of alcohol were inversely related to changes in consumption and cirrhosis mortality. Although causal inferences from these data must be made with caution, the results are strong enough to suggest that policy initiatives concerning the economic availability of alcohol should consider public health consequences.

Alcohol Drinking↗

PubMed1975

[Fatty-acid pattern of human fat and liver tissues in alcoholics and non-alcoholics: fatty-acid pattern as a measure of alcoholism (author's transl)].

Samples from the right lobe of the liver and from fat tissue of the abdominal wall were removed shortly after death from 116 persons. Fatty-acid pattern of both tissues (lauric, myristic, palmitic, palmitoleic, stearic, oleic, linoleic acids) was measured and compared with the degree of fatty infiltration of the liver. The data were also correlated with chronic excess alcohol consumption in the pre-terminal phase. It was found that with increasing fatty inflitration there was a rise in the relative proportion of palmitoleic acid in liver and subcutaneous fat tissues, with a fall in the relative proportion of stearic acid in the latter. Comparison of results in alcoholics (19 subjects) and non-alcoholics (91) showed the expected higher fatty infiltration of the liver in the former (x equal 13.4% and 5.6%, respectively). Both in liver and subcutaneous fat tissues the relative proportion of palmitoleic acid was significantly higher in alcoholics. But while in these the proportion of palmitoleic acid in the liver was higher than in subcutaneous tissue, the relationship was the converse among the non-alcoholics.

Abdominal Muscles↗

PubMed1977

Female alcoholics. I. Ways of admission of the alcoholic patient. A study special reference to the alcoholic female.

The aim of this study has been to describe the different ways in which 100 alcoholics of each sex sought treatment, with special reference to the females. In addition, some psychiatric and social characteristics of the two groups of patients are presented. A significantly higher number of the females were admitted as a result of an acute complication: unconsciousness, suicide attempt, confusion, neurological disorders, etc., while the males generally sought treatment under less dramatic circumstances. As the patients selected were early cases, most had not been treated before, but in those with previous in-patient psychiatric treatment a diagnosis without an alcohol connection was significantly more common among the women. Drug abuse was considerably more frequent among the female as compared with the male alcoholics, and the specific lonely drinking pattern was also more common among the women. A striking difference between the sexes appeared with respect to partner: more than one-half of the married women had alcoholic husbands. The corresponding figure for the married men amounted to about 10%.

Adult↗

PubMed1992

[Biological alcohol markers. Genetic markers for familial alcoholism and markers for the detection of harmful alcohol consumption].

Existing biological markers of alcoholism and excessive alcohol consumption are of poor sensitivity and specificity, and new, improved markers are needed. Owing to the genetic contribution to the development of alcoholism, as demonstrated in family and adoption studies, a search has been initiated for 'preventive' or genetic markers. In addition, other new biochemical markers have been introduced, and results so far obtained with CDT (carbohydrate deficient transferrin) in the detection of alcoholics have been promising. However, the clinical and scientific implications of these new markers need to be elucidated in greater detail.

Adenylyl Cyclases↗

PubMed1992

The Children of Alcoholics Screening Test: reliability and relationship to family environment, adjustment, and alcohol-related stressors of adolescent offspring of alcoholics.

The Children of Alcoholics Screening Test (CAST) had acceptably high internal consistency (.88 and .90) and test-retest reliabilities (.88) when administered to adolescents from intact alcoholic families. CAST scores were unrelated to measures of adolescent adjustment or indices that reflect general family environment. However, CAST scores did correlate positively with a measure of the more specific family environment related to alcohol abuse. The study suggested that CAST scores are best suited for screening respondents and not as a dependent variable because the relationships that one is likely to identify between CAST scores and any other variable would be primarily reflective of group differences between offspring of alcoholics and nonalcoholics.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1986

Nosology and diagnosis of alcoholism. Issues and perspectives in subtyping (DSM III) simple alcoholism and alcoholism associated with other psychopathologies.

The presence of psychopathological syndromes in alcoholic in-patients was assessed using the NIMH-Diagnosis. The most stricking finding of this study was the high percentage of additional psychopathological syndromes associated to alcoholism. Based on this finding, a tentative classification of alcoholism is proposed. The urgent need for a comprehensive diagnostic scheme for alcoholism is underlined.

Alcoholism↗

PubMed1985

Role of alcohol dehydrogenase in the swift increase in alcohol metabolism (SIAM). Studies with deer mice deficient in alcohol dehydrogenase.

Previous studies have shown that rates of ethanol metabolism increase markedly 2-4 hr after the administration of ethanol in rats and in four inbred strains of mice. This phenomenon, called the swift increase in alcohol metabolism (SIAM), also exists in humans. To determine whether alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) is necessary for the SIAM response, we compared ethanol metabolism in two strains of the deer mouse, Peromyscus maniculatus. One strain lacks alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH-negative), whereas the other strain has normal ADH levels (ADH-positive). Rates of ethanol elimination were determined after a single intraperitoneal injection of ethanol at different doses (0.5 to 3.0 g/kg) and also after both strains were exposed to various levels of ethanol vapor for 4 hr. The ADH-positive strain exhibited up to a 72% increase in the rate of ethanol elimination after exposure to ethanol vapor compared to the ethanol-injected controls. In contrast, treatment with ethanol vapor did not alter rates of ethanol elimination in the ADH-negative strain. These data demonstrate clearly that ADH is required for SIAM in the deer mouse. In addition, in both the ADH-positive and the ADH-negative strain, rates of ethanol elimination increased in both the ethanol-injected and vapor-treated groups 2- to 3-fold as the dose of ethanol was increased from 100 to 500 mg/100 ml. Thus, it is concluded that this "concentration effect" of ethanol on rates of ethanol metabolism does not involve ADH in the . deer mouse.

Alcohol Dehydrogenase↗

PubMed1990

Genotyping study of alcohol dehydrogenase class I polymorphism in French patients with alcoholic cirrhosis. The French Group for Research on Alcohol and Liver.

Comparison of alcohol dehydrogenase polymorphism at the loci ADH2 and ADH3 is made in France between 46 alcoholic cirrhotic patients and 39 controls, by genotyping technique using polymerase chain reaction on blood microsample collected on blotting paper. The genotype distributions are similar, with low frequency of the ADH2(2) allele. Polymorphism at the ADH3 locus is not a genetic factor for alcoholic cirrhosis in France.

Adult↗

PubMed1989

Alcoholic and non-alcoholic liver disease in relation to alcohol consumption in Scotland, 1978-84. Part I: Epidemiology of liver diseases.

A common strategy in epidemiological studies linking alcohol consumption in the general population with liver cirrhosis mortality is to use non-specific cirrhosis mortality rates in which alcoholic and non-alcoholic causes of death are not distinguished. Evidence is presented from Scottish mortality data for 1979 to 1984 that the two forms of cirrhosis have quite different epidemiological profiles. Similar findings emerge from morbidity data. The two forms of disease should be distinguished in future studies in which liver cirrhosis is used as a proxy for consumption, despite the manifest shortcomings of currently available data.

Adult↗

PubMed1973

Microbial metabolism of amino alcohols. Metabolism of ethanolamine and 1-aminopropan-2-ol in species of Erwinia and the roles of amino alcohol kinase and amino alcohol o-phosphate phospho-lyase in aldehyde formation.

1. Growth of Erwinia carotovora N.C.P.P.B. 1280 on media containing 1-aminopropan-2-ol compounds or ethanolamine as the sole N source resulted in the excretion of propionaldehyde or acetaldehyde respectively. The inclusion of (NH(4))(2)SO(4) in media prevented aldehyde formation. 2. Growth, microrespirometric and enzymic evidence implicated amino alcohol O-phosphates as aldehyde precursors. An inducibly formed ATP-amino alcohol phosphotransferase was partially purified and found to be markedly stimulated by ADP, unaffected by NH(4) (+) ions and more active with ethanolamine than with 1-aminopropan-2-ol compounds. Amino alcohol O-phosphates were deaminated by an inducible phospho-lyase to give the corresponding aldehydes. This enzyme, separated from the kinase during purification, was more active with ethanolamine O-phosphate than with 1-aminopropan-2-ol O-phosphates. Activity of the phospho-lyase was unaffected by a number of possible effectors, including NH(4) (+) ions, but its formation was repressed by the addition of (NH(4))(2)SO(4) to growth media. 3. E. carotovora was unable to grow with ethanolamine or 1-aminopropan-2-ol compounds as sources of C, the production of aldehydes during utilization as N sources being attributable to the inability of the microbe to synthesize aldehyde dehydrogenase. 4. Of seven additional strains of Erwinia examined similar results were obtained only with Erwinia ananas (N.C.P.P.B. 441) and Erwinia milletiae (N.C.P.P.B. 955).

Acetaldehyde↗