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CT Demonstration of the Early Effects of Alcohol on the Brain

  • Chapter
Recent Developments in Alcoholism

Abstract

CT evidence of brain damage has been sought in subjects consuming alcohol between 10 g/day to over 200 g/day. Dietary contributing factors have been evaluated. The level of atrophy (shrinkage) has been correlated with intellectual performance. To establish a relationship between alcohol intake and brain structure and function, re-examination of subjects over a 6- to 12-month period of abstinence has been undertaken to examine any reversibility features. A record of liver function showed that brain damage always precedes liver damage. Subjects were re-examined a second time, who had initially abstained for six months and then had returned either to their original level of consumption or to one that was somewhat reduced. A regression in initial improvement was considered evidence of reversible brain damage that had originally been related to alcohol. The threshold consumption for CT damage was 40 g/day, but the level of CT atrophy at which cognitive dysfunction appeared has still to be established.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Queen Elizabeth II Medical Center, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Nedlands, Western Australia, 6009

    Lesley Ann Cala

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  1. Lesley Ann Cala
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA

    Marc Galanter

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© 1985 Plenum Press, New York

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Cala, L.A. (1985). CT Demonstration of the Early Effects of Alcohol on the Brain. In: Galanter, M. (eds) Recent Developments in Alcoholism. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7715-7_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7715-7_20

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4615-7717-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-7715-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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