Severe alcohol abuse and cellular immune functions

This review is a summation of the effects of alcohol on immune functions. Suppressed or altered immune functions associated with alcohol abuse are major complicating factors. The prevalence of various diseases in the alcoholic population have generally not been established. Rates seem to vary according to the subpopulation under study and the sensitivity of the techniques used to detect pathology. Because of the complexity of diagnosing alcohol abuse, few physicians are able to easily develop early working hypotheses that would articulate the role alcohol plays in the patient disease process. Using biochemical and immunological changes caused by high and prolonged consumption of ethanol may be more dependable as diagnostic indicators of alcoholism, alone or in conjunction with sociological data, than sociological parameters alone.