title: Alcohol--risks and mechanisms of damage.
abstract: The first part of this one-day conference, held at the Royal College of Physicians in December 1993, was devoted to the relationship between alcohol consumption and the health of the nation, in particular the complex effects of alcohol intake on mortality and its widely publicised protective effect against death from coronary artery disease. This led to a discussion of the rationale for the currently recommended 'safe limits' for alcohol consumption and the controversial issue of whether, in view of the beneficial cardiovascular effects of light alcohol intake, teetotallers should be encouraged to drink. The second part of the conference dealt with the biological and biochemical effects of alcohol on the liver. While excessive alcohol consumption is clearly associated with the development of liver disease, advanced liver disease occurs in only a minority of heavy drinkers. Recent advances in our understanding of the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver disease are now beginning to offer biochemical explanations for individual susceptibility and provide a more rational basis for the design of new long term treatment modalities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Medical School, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne.
authors.forename: C P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Day
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002319:Cardiovascular System / Q000187:drug effects; D000431:Ethanol / Q000009:adverse effects; D006519:Hepatitis, Alcoholic / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008108:Liver Diseases, Alcoholic / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol