Diseases Related To Alcohol

Fatty change / steatosis
- fat accumulation in the liver
- alcohol causes : 1. catabolism of fat at peripheral tissues, increase delivery of fatty acids to liver. 2. catabolism of ethanol increase NADH, induce lipid biosynthesis. 3. decrease oxidation of fatty acids. 4. reduce lipoprotein transport from liver. Acetaldehyde move to tubulin, leads to improper function of microtubule
- asymptomatic
- acute, reversible

Alcoholic hepatitis
- ethanol and metabolites are toxic to hepatocytes
- hepatocyte necrosis
- fever, liver tenderness, jaundice

Liver fibrosis
- Formation of fibrous tissue as a reparative or reactive process

Cirrhosis
- alcohol reduces in liver alpha-tocopherol, increase risk of oxidation injury
- irreversible
- liver shrinks

Alcohol Dementia
- dementia is progressive decline in cognitive function due to damage or disease in the body beyond what might be expected from normal aging
- due to thiamine deficiency (alcoholic usually substitutes alcohol for other more nutritive calorie sources)
- resulting in neurological damage and memory loss

Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome
- confusion and severe impairment of memory, especially for recent events
- due to thiamine deficiency (alcoholic usually substitutes alcohol for other more nutritive calorie sources)
- the precise pathogenesis is uncertain

Fetal alcohol syndrome
- hypothesis : acetaldehyde cross placenta and damage the brain
- thin upper lip, flat nose and mid-face, short stature and small head size of the baby

Delirium tremens
- delirium is an acute and relatively sudden (developing over hours to days) decline in attention-focus, perception, and cognition.
- acute episode of delirium that is usually caused by withdrawal of alcohol

Alcoholic myopathy / alcoholic rhabdomyolysis / alcoholic myoglobinuria
- weakness secondary to breakdown of muscle tissue
- unknown mechanism

Acute gastritis
- direct toxic effect of ethanol

Cancer
- possible role of alcohol in the development of liver cancer is incompletely understood
- there is relation of alcohol abuse with carcinoma of the oropharynx, larynx, esophagus and liver
- although there is no evidence that alcohol itself is a carcinogen, alcohol may act as a cocarcinogen by enhancing the carcinogenic effects of other chemicals
- cytochrome P-450 is an enzyme that normally help to detoxify substances that enter the body can also increase the toxicity of some carcinogens
- alcohol is able to induce cytochrome P-450 in the liver, lungs, esophagus, and intestines

Alcohol-induced pseudo-Cushing syndrome
- result in symptoms similar to a condition called Cushing's syndrome
- Cushing's syndrome (also called hyperadrenocorticism) is an endocrine disorder caused by high levels of cortisol in the blood

Crohn's Disease
- an inflammatory disease of the digestive system which may affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract from mouth to anus

Peptic Ulcer
- not directly
- associated, increase in incidence

Testicular atrophy and decreased fertility
- unknown mechanism