Recent Developments in Alcoholism

I. High-Risk Studies of Alcoholism.- Overview.- 1 Behavioral Effects of Alcohol in Sons of Alcoholics.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Methods.- 3. Results.- 3.1. Metabolism.- 3.2. Personality.- 3.3. Reaction to Ethanol.- 3.4. Electrophysiology.- 4. Conclusions.- References.- 2 The EEG in Persons at Risk for Alcoholism.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Resting EEG.- 2.1. The EEGs of Alcoholics.- 2.2. The EEG in Alcoholics’ Biologic Relatives.- 3. The EEG Effects of a Single Dose of Alcohol.- 3.1. Alcoholics and Normals.- 3.2. The EEG Response to Alcohol in High-Risk Subjects.- 4. Comment.- References.- 3 Psychopathology in Adopted-Out Children of Alcoholics: The Stockholm Adoption Study.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Inheritance of Complex Behaviors: General Principles.- 2.1. Goals of Analysis.- 2.2. Multiple Risk Factors and Heterogeneity.- 2.3. Gene-Environment Interaction.- 3. The Stockholm Adoption Study.- 3.1. The Subjects.- 3.2. Assessment Data.- 4. Genetic Factors in Susceptibility to Alcohol Abuse.- 5. Environmental Risk Factors.- 5.1. Imitation of Parental Alcohol Abuse.- 5.2. Social Status and Stability of Childhood Care.- 5.3. Selective Placement and Gene-Environment Correlation.- 6. Alcoholic Subtypes and Gene-Environment Interaction.- 6.1. Genetic Heterogeneity and Severity of Abuse.- 6.2. Milieu-Limited (Type 1) Alcohol Abuse.- 6.3. Male-Limited (Type 2) Alcohol Abuse.- 7. Relationship to Other Psychopathology.- 7.1. Criminality.- 7.2. Affective Disorders.- 8. Implications of Findings.- References.- 4 Premorbid Assessment of Young Men at High Risk for Alcoholism.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Methodology.- 3. The Sample.- 4. Hypotheses and Variables.- 4.1. “Neuro” Hypothesis.- 4.2. Biochemical Hypotheses.- 4.3. “Psychopathy” Hypothesis.- 4.4. Social Hypotheses.- 4.5. Psychological Hypotheses.- 5. Results.- 6. Discussion.- References.- 5 Minimal Brain Dysfunction and Neuropsychological Test Performance in Offspring of Alcoholics.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Methods.- 2.1. Subjects.- 3. Results.- 3.1. Childhood Problem Behaviors.- 3.2. Neuropsychological Test Results.- 3.3. Childhood Problem Behaviors, Neuropsychological Test Performance, and Drinking History.- 3.4. Age-Similar Alcoholic Probands.- 4. Discussion.- 4.1. Childhood Problem Behaviors.- 4.2. Neuropsychological Test Performance.- 4.3. Childhood Problem Behavior and Adult Neuropsychological Performance.- References.- II. Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes, and Alcohol.- Overview.- 6 Synthesis of Prostaglandins and Leukotrienes: Effects of Ethanol.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Arachidonic Acid and Metabolism.- 2.1. Phospholipases.- 2.2. Cyclooxygenase Pathway.- 2.3. Lipoxygenase.- 3. Lipoxygenase Metabolism of Arachidonic Acid and Effects of Ethanol.- 4. Conclusion.- References.- 7 Biochemical Interactions of Ethanol with the Arachidonic Acid Cascade.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Ethanol-Induced Alterations in Prostaglandin and Thromboxane Synthesis.- 2.1. Effect on Precursor Availability.- 2.2. Direct Effect of Ethanol on PG and TX Synthesis.- 3. The Effect of Ethanol on PG Degradation.- 3.1. Male PGDH Activity.- 3.2. Maternal and Fetal PGDH Activity.- 4. Ethanol, Prostaglandins, and Cyclic AMP.- 4.1. Ethanol and Cyclic AMP.- 4.2. Molecular Mechanism.- 5. Ethanol, Prostaglandins, and Cytoprotection.- 5.1. Gastric Acid Secretion.- 5.2. Gastric Mucosa Protection.- 6. Miscellaneous.- 6.1. Ethanol and Vascular Response to PGs.- 6.2. PGs and Ethanol Metabolism.- 6.3. Other Cell Interactions.- References.- 8 Brain Arachidonic Acid Metabolites: Functions and Interactions with Ethanol.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Arachidonic Acid Metabolites and Brain.- 3. Ethanol-Prostaglandin Behavioral Interactions.- 4. Ethanol and Brain Prostaglandin Content.- 5. Summary.- References.- III. Cardiovascular Effects of Alcohol Abuse.- Overview.- 9 Alcohol, Coronary Heart Disease, and Total Mortality.- Conclusion.- Discussion.- References.- 10 Alcohol Consumption and Cardiovascular Risk Factors.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Alcohol Consumption and HDL-Chol.- 2.1. HDL Composition and CHD Risk.- 2.2. Alcohol Consumption and Total HDL-Chol.- 2.3. Alcohol Consumption and HDL-Chol Subfractions.- 2.4. Alcohol Consumption and Apoprotein Levels.- 2.5. Mechanisms.- 3. Alcohol Consumption and Blood Pressure.- 3.1. An Ecological Study.- 3.2. Studies of Alcoholics and Problem Drinkers.- 3.3. Studies of Hypertensive Patients.- 3.4. Studies of General Population Samples.- 3.5. Biochemical Measurements and Blood Pressure.- 3.6. Mechanisms.- 4. Summary.- References.- 11 Myocardial Effects of Alcohol Abuse: Clinical and Physiologic Consequences.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Alcoholic Myocardiopathy.- 3. Cardiac Arrhythmias due to Alcohol Abuse.- 4. Acute Cardiovascular Effects of Ethanol.- 5. Histology of Alcoholic Myocardial Disease.- 6. Summary.- References.- 12 Biochemical Mechanisms Responsible for Alcohol-Associated Myocardiopathy.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Alcohol Metabolism.- 3. Cardiac Metabolism of Alcohol.- 4. Role of Acetaldehyde.- 5. Ethanol Fatty Acid Esters.- 6. Contractile Proteins.- 7. Summary.- References.- IV. Cerebral Functioning in Social Drinkers.- Overview.- 13 The Continuity Hypothesis: The Relationship of Long-Term Alcoholism to the Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome1.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Anterograde Memory Deficits.- 3. Retrograde Memory Deficits.- 4. Conclusions.- References.- 14 The Impact of Fathers’ Drinking on Cognitive Loss among Social Drinkers.- 1. Cognitive Loss in Alcoholic Patients.- 2. Cognitive Loss in Selected Samples of Social Drinkers.- 3. Cognitive Loss in a Representative Sample of Employed Persons.- 4. Impact of Fathers’ Drinking.- 5. The Carry-over Model.- 6. Conclusions.- References.- 15 Alcohol Use and Cognitive Functioning in Men and Women College Students.- 1. Previous Studies of College Students.- 1.1. Importance of Studying College Students.- 1.2. Objectives of Studies to be Described.- 2. Correlational Studies.- 2.1. Study 1.- 2.2. Study 2a.- 2.3. Combined Study 1 and Study 2a Data.- 2.4. Conclusions on Correlational Studies.- 3. Reversibility Study.- 3.1. Reversibility Data.- 3.2. Correlational Data.- 3.3. Conclusions on Reversibility Study.- 4. General Conclusions.- References.- 16 CT Demonstration of the Early Effects of Alcohol on the Brain.- 1. Pilot Studies.- 1.1. Normal Subjects.- 1.2. Alcoholic Patients.- 1.3. Heavy Social Drinkers.- 2. Light to Moderate Social Drinkers.- 2.1. Results of First Visit of Light to Moderate Social Drinkers.- 2.2. Results of Second Visit of Light to Moderate Social Drinkers.- 2.3. Results of Third Visit of Light to Moderate Social Drinkers.- 3. Discussion.- 4. Conclusions.- References.- 17 Cognitive Deficits and Morphological Cerebral Changes in a Random Sample of Social Drinkers.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Method.- 3. Results.- 4. Discussion.- References.- 18 Brain Damage in Social Drinkers? Reasons for Caution.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Evidence of Neuropsychological Changes in Social Drinkers.- 3. A Two-Factor Model of Cognitive Deficits among Social Drinkers.- 4. Reversibility of Neuropsychological Changes in Social Drinkers.- 5. Neuroradiological Indices of Brain Pathology in Social Drinkers.- 6. Clinical Significance of Social Drinking Studies.- 7. Public Health Implications of Social Drinking Research.- References.- 19 Statistical Issues for Research on Social Drinkers.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Statistical Control.- 3. Measurement.- 4. Sampling.- 5. Concluding Remarks.- References.- 20 Functional Brain Imaging.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Inert Gas Blood Flow Studies.- 3. Position Tomography.- 4. Single-Photon Tomography.- 5. Discussion.- References.