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Diseases of the Nervous System in Chronic Alcoholics

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The Biology of Alcoholism

Abstract

The abusive consumption of alcoholic beverages deranges normal function of the nervous system in various ways. The most common neurological or psychological disturbances are associated with elevated blood alcohol levels and symptoms of inebriation. These are followed in order of frequency by syndromes caused by alcohol withdrawal (delirium tremens, hallucinosis, and rum fits) and by a group of metabolic disorders related to the nutritional depletion frequently associated with protracted and steady drinking (in contrast to spree or periodic drinking). Whereas the various symptoms of inebriation and withdrawal are generally reversible, the nutritionally determined diseases may cause serious irreversible damage to part of the central and peripheral nervous systems. While the clinical and pathological features of the neurological diseases engendered by chronic alcoholism have been documented in great detail, their etiology has been only partially elucidated and their pathogenesis remains essentially unknown and a matter of speculation. In this chapter only the neurological syndromes of the central nervous system encountered in the chronic alcoholic patient will be discussed; disorders of the peripheral nervous system and those neurological syndromes caused by periodic inebriation or withdrawal have been covered in previous chapters.

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  1. Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, California, USA

    Pierre M. Dreyfus

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  1. Pierre M. Dreyfus
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  1. Division of Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Department of Psychiatry Downstate Medical Center, State University of New York, Brooklyn, New York, USA

    Benjamin Kissin  & Henri Begleiter  & 

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Dreyfus, P.M. (1974). Diseases of the Nervous System in Chronic Alcoholics. In: Kissin, B., Begleiter, H. (eds) The Biology of Alcoholism. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-2937-4_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-2937-4_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

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