What is Alcoholism
Alcoholism is the term commonly attributed to those who abuse alcoholic beverages. With reference to its enormous importance in the health field, alcoholism was inserted as early as 1980 among the abuse syndromes described in
In fact, alcoholism is a pathological syndrome in all respects; it represents a set of symptoms and clinical signs generated by the systemic compromise of the organs which, following a chronic intoxication with ethyl alcohol, lose functionality and anatomical integrity.
In subjects with alcoholism, acute or chronic ethanol intake differs from the ordinary in large quantities, and compulsive behavior.
Damage
The effects and symptoms of short-term and long-term alcoholism include:
- Damage to the Central Nervous System (CNS), manifested in unbridgeable memory gaps and learning impossibility, identifiable also in the form of tingling in the hands and feet; in the advanced stages, loss of manual use.
- Esophagitis and / or esophageal ulcers
- Lesions of the gastric and duodenal mucosa: gastritis and / or ulcers
- Muscular weakening or atrophy and relative myocardial infarction
- Liver damage with symptoms of: pain in the right hypochondrium (alcoholic steatosis), abnormal redness of the hands and feet and loss of appetite. Alteration of liver function causes: alteration of the lipid blood count, alteration of plasma proteins and related ascites
- Pancreatic damage: tendency to develop diabetes and increased risk of pancreatitis
- In humans, atrophy of the testicles and relative impotence and gynecomastia (due to the alteration of the hormonal framework)
- Increased episodes of vomiting and diarrhea (malabsorption and malnutrition)
- Alteration of intestinal function: impairment of the brush border (malabsorption and malnutrition) and irritative pro-inflammatory mucosa
- Increased cancer risk in different districts: mouth, throat, esophagus, stomach and liver, but can also contribute to those of the breast and colon.
Alcoholism and Vitamin Deficiencies
The alteration of the absorption potential and the tendency to episodes of diarrhea and vomiting can easily lead to states of malnutrition, even serious ones. The components that seem to suffer the most from the influence of alcohol on a nutritional level are vitamins, in particular, the most frequent deficiencies concern: thiamine (vit B1), riboflavin (vit B2), niacin (vit PP) and folic acid (vit . B9).
In alcoholism, vitamin deficiencies cause rather serious effects and symptoms; thiamine (as well as riboflavin, niacin and folic acid) is a water-soluble vitamin that is absorbed in the intestine; whereas in the alcoholic the absorption and metabolization capacities are seriously compromised, in cases of severe abuse it is common for advanced symptoms of malnutrition to occur.
The primary effects of thiamine avitaminosis (due to alcoholic etiopathogenesis) are reflected on the CNS with the worsening of nerve conduction efficiency, and on the other tissues by reducing the enzymatic metabolizing capacity of the alcohol itself.
Also the riboflavin is absorbed in a similar way, therefore its absorption results compromised by the alcohol abuse; the worsening of vit B2 uptake mainly causes a non-selective alteration of the mucous membranes, which is manifested with evidence in skin lesions around the nose and mouth.
Intestinal malabsorption also appears to significantly involve niacin, whose prolonged deficiency negatively affects the maintenance of skin integrity, further worsens intestinal function and even nerve function.
With regard to folic acid, a fundamental vitamin for the synthesis of nucleic acids, anemic forms of megaloblastic nature, alteration of the mucous membranes and worsening of diarrhea frequently occur; under similar conditions, the pregnant woman (who requires a higher intake of folic acid than usual for gestation) has very high percentages of abortion or fetal malformations.
It is evident that alcoholism negatively affects the nutritional framework by determining in a direct (malabsorption) and indirect (loss of appetite and anorexia induced by psychosis-alcohol) the lack of essential elements for maintaining good health. The first symptoms that indicate the state of vitamin deficiency are dermatological, intestinal and nervous; to these are added essential deficits of fatty acids, amino acids and mineral salts. In the alcoholic treatment, physiological nutritional restoration is essential for systemic improvement, since the intestinal alteration is both a cause and an effect of the vitamin deficiency.
