Disorders of Excessive Alcohol Intake

Ethanol (CH3CH2OH), also called ethyl alcohol or simply alcohol by most biologists and clinicians, is a primary alcohol. It is soluble both in water and in lipid solvents. Indeed, ethanol is commonly used to extract lipids from tissues. The major industrial source of ethanol is fermentation of glucose or carbohydrates, which can be broken down to glucose. Very little ethanol is produced by metabolic processes in animal cells. The oxidation of 1 g of ethanol in the body to carbon dioxide and water yields 7 kcal of energy and produces 0.9 g of water. In this chapter the metabolism of ethanol (which will also be referred to as alcohol) and the biochemical and clinical effects of excessive intake of alcohol will be considered.