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Effects of Chronic Use
Alcohol abuse can result in broad range of medical problems. Alcohol can reduce production of the sex hormone testosterone in males, resulting in impotence and testicular atrophy. Alcohol has a high caloric value but a low nutritional value. Its "empty calories" may allow the alcoholic to feel satisfied while actually progressing toward a state of serious malnutrition. Ailments that can result from alcohol consumption include cirrhosis, a liver ailment; diseases of the digestive system; damage to the heart; lowered resistance to infection; and cancer (larynx, esophagus, liver). Women who consume alcohol during pregnancy are at risk of delivering children with fetal alcohol syndrome, a syndrome of physical, developmental, and psychological problems.
Although the medical effects of alcoholism have long been known, the study of how alcohol acts on the brain to produce intoxication, dependence, and tolerance is still new. Most studies focus on the effect of alcohol on cellular communication. These have found that different regions of the brain differ in their sensitivity to alcohol. In addition, alcohol affects many different kinds of receptors (see nervous system) and neurotransmitters, such as GABA, glutamate, and serotonin, creating different effects in each case. Whatever the exact mechanism, it is accepted that chronic consumption of alcohol results in disconnection of the fibers that connect brain cells, producing memory lapses, impaired learning ability, motor disturbances, and general disorientation. Two organic brain disorders, alcoholic dementia, characterized by general loss of intellectual abilities, and Wernicke-Korsakoff's syndrome, characterized by such symptoms as loss of physical coordination, incoherence, and mental confusion, are frequently seen in alcoholics.
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