Overview: Alcoholism, the oldest addictive illness, remains a serious problem because of its major modifications of many physiological systems. The genetic and neurological origins and mechanisms are complex and only partly understood. However, it is clear that alcohol use modifies the production of most hormones, directly and indirectly modulating the systems that hormones regulate. Acute and chronic alcohol consumption affects virtually all cellular functions of tissues like brain, liver, immune system, and reproductive and endocrine organs. The latter have major regula tory roles, affectin
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