Some endocrine aspects of alcoholism

This review has focused on the more recent studies of ethanol-endocrine relationships. The data were evaluated from a fairly unbiased point of view and an attempt was made to point out some of the deficiencies in knowledge of the effects of ethanol on the endocrine system and the underlying mechanisms. The adrenal, for example, has been given the greatest attention in alcohol research, and yet the occurrence of atrophy or hypoplasia, despite alcohol's role as a stressor which can increase cortisol secretion, remains unexplained. In addition, our studies of the alcoholic subject have been conducted exclusively on the "skid-row" individual and may not be descriptive of the middle-class alcoholic subject who has not undergone similar nutritional and environmental stresses. While it is far from obvious that alcoholism is primarily an endocrine disease, the effects of ethanol on hormone metabolism are numerous and deserve further attention.