This study examined the proposition that the experience of alcoholic blackouts is related to other indices of cerebral involvement in the alcoholic process. In particular it was suggested that those who experience alcoholic blackouts would also show signs of the effects of alcoholic damage in the form of lower scores on cognitive functions vulnerable to the effects of long-term alcohol abuse. W...

There are essentially no objective neuropathological data on brain atrophy in chronic alcoholic patients despite numerous neuroradiological studies which show a high incidence of shrinkage or atrophy. Therefore measurements were made of the intracranial volume (ICV) and brain volume (BV) in a necropsy study of 25 chronic alcoholic patients and 44 controls. The pericerebral space (PICS) was calc...

Although a variety of pathological changes have been described in the brains of chronic alcoholic patients, there have been no studies which have addressed the question of alterations in cortical neuronal dendritic arborisation. Loss of neurons from the superior frontal gyrus and shrinkage of neurons from both the superior frontal gyrus and motor cortex has been documented in chronic alcoholic ...

QUESTION An increasing number of my patients are asking about the safety of consuming non-alcoholic beer and other alcohol-free versions of alcoholic beverages during pregnancy and breastfeeding, as they believe that these drinks might be a "safer" alternative to regular alcoholic beverages. What are Motherisk's recommendations regarding these products? ANSWER Such drinks might contain higher...

pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (pk/pd) relationships describe the quantitative relationships between the drug-induced effects and the concurrent corresponding drug concentrations in an individual. since a long time, rough qualitative relationships have been described between neurological presentation and plasma ethanol concentration in acute ethanol ingestion. however, to date, precise quantit...

Alcohol-related burn injuries carry significant mortality and morbidity rates. Flaming alcoholic beverages served in trendy bars and clubs are becoming increasingly popular. The dangers associated with an ignited alcoholic drink are often underestimated by party goers whose risk assessment ability is already impaired by heavy alcohol consumption. The authors present two cases demonstrating the ...

A self-administered questionnaire was used to compare selected psychosocial variables of 306 convicted male drunk drivers with those of 294 alcoholics and 253 controls. The drunk driver group fell between the other groups on many parameters but resembled the alcoholic group on many others. While over 68% of the drunk drivers appeared to be alcoholics, in general they showed significantly less p...

Alcoholic and aqueous extracts of endangered medicinal plants Balanites aegyptiaca and Tylophora indica were analyzed for antibacterial potential against various gram positive and gram negative bacteria including resistant strains harbouring bla genes by agar well diffusion method. Alcoholic extracts of both the plants showed activity against wider range of tested bacteria as compared to aqueou...

OBJECTIVES To determine whether differences in cognitive function between alcoholic and non-alcoholic cirrhotic patients relate to differences in endogenous ligands for the benzodiazepine receptor and/or benzodiazepine binding. METHODS Seventeen grade-I hepatic encephalopathic patients (nine alcoholic, eight non-alcoholic) were compared with 10 matched controls on plasma concentrations of end...

Introduction N-terminal propeptide of procollagen type III (PIIINP) is generated during the synthesis of type III collagen. PIIINP can be measured in the serum as an indicator of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. Aim To evaluate the effect of liver diseases of different aetiologies and clinical severity of liver cirrhosis on the serum level of PIIINP. Material and methods Patients with alcoholi...