Alcohol-related Neurologic Disease

       Alcohol, or ethanol, is a poi­son with direct toxic effects on nerve and muscle cells. Depend­ing on which nerve and muscle pathways are involved, alcohol can have far-reaching effects on different parts of the brain, peripheral nerves, and muscles, with symptoms of memory loss, incoordination, seizures, weakness, and sensory deficits. These different effects can be grouped in three main categories: (1) intoxication due to the acute effects of ethanol, (2) withdrawal syndrome from suddenly stopping drinking, and (3) disorders related to long-term or chronic alcohol abuse. Alcohol-related neurologic disease includes Wernicke-Korsakoff disease, alco­holic cerebellar degeneration, alcoholic myopathy, alcoholic neuropathy, alcohol withdrawal syndrome with seizures and delirium tremens, and fetal alcohol syndrome.