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Alcohol is one of the major risk factors for negative health outcomes worldwide. It accounts for more than 60 alcohol-related diseases, ranging from addiction, through liver cirrhosis, to cancer. Collectively, these conditions account for mortality and morbidity that make alcohol use one of the leading preventable causes of disability adjusted life-years (DALYs) lost globally. In this book, an international faculty covers all aspects of alcohol-related disorders, ranging from addiction/alcohol use disorders (AUD) to alcohol-related diseases of other organs such as liver, heart or cancer. A special focus is to reach out to primary care physicians who are in the front line of this major health problem. The book also provides an update for addiction specialists, as well as specialists in internal medicine, gastroenterology and hepatology. The book is divided into sections that include epidemiology, alcohol use disorders and addiction, alcohol-related liver disease, alcoholic hepatitis,primary care and interdisciplinary approaches and other alcohol-related diseases. Besides current diagnostic measures and treatment strategies, the book deals with the many underlying molecular and genetic mechanisms of alcohol toxicity. Novel insights include prospective data on all-cause mortality and the emerging major role of alcohol-mediated hemolysis and enhanced red blood cell turnover. The book also aims at guiding policy makers to handle the topic of alcohol in our society more responsibly.

Molecular Aspects of Alcohol and Nutrition is a valuable resource for nutrition researchers and nutritionists who study or treat alcohol-related diseases. Experts from across the field of alcohol research explain how alcohol disrupts normal fat, carbohydrate, and protein metabolic processes occurring in the liver as well as other parts of the body. The book discusses how this can lead to alcoholic liver disease (ALD) as well as contribute to the onset of Type 2 diabetes and the metabolic syndrome. It also explores how alcohol affects nutrient absorption in the gastrointestinal tract and can lead to anemia and reduced amounts of fat soluble vitamins. This book explores both the primary and secondary consequences of alcohol consumption. Chapters in the first section investigate the basic science of alcohol metabolism – focusing on how alcohol and its toxic metabolites disrupt and impair normal nutrient regulation at the molecular level. Further chapters explore how alcohol affects many extra-hepatic organs and tissues as well as the secondary consequences of alcohol consumption such as reduced levels of minerals like magnesium, calcium, and trace elements like zinc. - Offers a valuable resource for nutrition researchers and nutritionists who study alcohol-related diseases and attempt to treat them through nutritional strategies - Explores how alcohol and its toxic metabolite acetaldehyde disrupt and impair normal macro and micro nutrient regulation at the molecular level - Investigates how alcohol affects and interferes with cell signaling, cell death pathways, calcium homeostasis leading to osteoporosis, oxygen balance, as well as the pathophysiology of alcohol consumption and abuse

Recent studies have provided clear evidence on the role of neural-immune interactions in normal brain function and neuropathological conditions. Neuroimmune factors, which play an essential role in neuroinflammatory response, have been implicated in the regulation of neuronal function and plasticity. Thus, neural-immune interactions provide a new frame work for understanding the role of the neuroimmune system in normal brain function, neurodevelopment, and a variety of neurological disorders. These advances have a far reaching impact on many areas of neuroscience, including alcohol research. Studies using human alcoholic brains, gene knockout mice, and gene expression profiling have established a clear link between alcoholism and an altered neuroimmune profile. This book integrates emerging knowledge on neural-immune interactions with key discoveries in alcohol research and provides a comprehensive overview of neural-immune interactions in brain function and behavior associated with alcohol use disorders. While Neural–Immune Interaction in Brain Function and Alcohol Related Disorders focuses on neural-immune interactions in areas directly related to alcohol use disorders, it is not intended to be all inclusive. Several areas, including sleep disorders, pain, and cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathways, are not covered as independent chapters but briefly mentioned in the text. The close relevance of these topics to neural-immune interactions and alcohol use disorders warrants future discussion and more research efforts.

The question how alcohol alters mood states and why this may end up becoming an addiction is puzzling alcohol researchers since decades. In this volume, an assembly of highly distinguished experts and leaders in alcohol addiction research provides lucid presentations of the current knowledge and research challenges as well as interesting viewpoints on future research directions aimed to stimulate communication and convergence between clinical and preclinical researchers, and to renew interest in the vibrant field of alcohol addiction research among a wide scientifically minded audience. Five Current Topics are discussed in this volume: Neurobiological mechanisms of alcoholism, Genetics, Clinical phenotypes and their preclinical models, Brain imaging, and Translational approaches for treatment development, both pharmacological and non-pharmacological. These areas have in our opinion brought alcohol research substantially forward and influenced our thinking about how to reach our common paramount goal, namely to offer effective treatment solutions for an extensive group of patients with largely unmet medical needs.