Alcohol and Neurological Diseases

Suzuki Yutaka

doi:10.4264/numa.70.150

Archeological evidence from ancient Chinese and Mesopotamian civilizations has shown that humans have been drinking alcohol for several thousand years. Alcohol is consumed for various reasons, including recovery from daily fatigue, alleviation of psychological stress, and promotion of smooth personal relationships, and its effects may indeed be remarkable. However, excessive consumption of alcohol (60 g/day<) results in damage to various organs. Examples of diseases involving by damage to the nervous system include polyneuritis, cerebellar degeneration, alcoholic dementia, pellagra encephalopathy, Marchiafava-Bignami and Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. Alcohol consumption influences the fluidity of the membrane of nerve cells and changes the composition of these membranes. Alcohol and acetaldehyde in the brain influences the appearance of receptors involved in metabolizing neurotransmitter, synthesis of neurotransmitters and modulation of the functions. It is estimated that there are sixty to sixty-five million people who drink alcohol in Japan. It is speculated that 12-13% of men and 3-4% of women in the Japanese population are heavy drinkers. About half of Japanese lack ALDH2 (aldehyde dehydrogenase 2), an enzyme involved in alcohol metabolism. Therefore, it is speculated that the Japanese people are easily influenced by excessive alcohol drinking. As indicated above, consumption of alcohol causes many neurologic diseases, and some of these diseases need to be diagnosed and treated at an early stage, especially Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, Marchiafava-Bignami and pellagra, because delays in treatment may be fatal. It is important for heavy alcohol drinkers stop drinking or at least drink moderately.

Alcohol and Neurological Diseases

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