In the first annual report on Alcohol and. Health to Congress (December, 1971), the then HEW Secretary Elliot L. Richardson called alcohol 'the most abused drug in the United States'. The report revealed that nine million Americans are alcohol abusers and that alcoholic individuals represent almost 10 % of the nation's work force. With spreading alcoholism, the incidence of physical damage due to alcohol has greatly increased. A question which is often raised is 'in which way does an alcoholic differ from a non-alcoholic?' Inquiries have focused on psychological make-up, behavioural differences and socioeconomic factors. More recently, however, physical differences have been delineated. Prior to the development of various disease entities, chronic ethanol exposure results in profound biochemical and morphological changes. Consequently an alcoholic does not respond normally to alcohol, or other drugs or even other toxic agents. Some of these persistent biochemical and morphological changes are the consequences of the injurious effects of ethanol, whereas others may represent the possible adaptive responses to the profound changes in intermediary metabolism which are a direct and im mediate consequence of the oxidation of ethanol itself. Differentiation between the effects of ethanol directly linked to its oxidation, and the adaptive and injurious effects of ethanol are not simple, and overlap is common. In general, however, metabolic effects are associated with the presence of relatively low ethanol concentrations, whereas injurious effects occur with high ethanol concentrations and/or after prolonged intake. High ethanol con centrations also produce so-called pharmacological effects.

Alcohol abuse, alcohol intolerance, alcohol dependence and other alcohol-related disabilities are some of the most challenging public health problems facing our modern-day society. The purpose of this comprehensive monograph is to review the available knowledge concerning the pharmacogenetic basis of alcohol sensitivity and its physiolgical implications and to synthesize the bulk of existing knowledge regarding metabolic features and biomedical disturbances related to alcoholism. The chapters cover a broad array of disciplines including an overview of historical and epidemiological aspects, biochemistry and molecular genetics of enzymes involved in alcohol metabolism, biochemical and neuropsychopharmacological effects of alcohol. Major emphasis is placed on the role of genetic factors in alcoholism. The experimental details are summarized and a comprehensive bibliography is included.

'Neurological Aspects of Substance Abuse' addresses aspects of substance abuse relevant to neurologists and other clinicians, including basic pharmacology, historical background, epidemiology, overdose and withdrawal, medical and neurological complications, fetal effects, and pharmacotherapy. Illicit drugs include heroin, methadone and other opioids; amphetamines, cocaine and other psychostimulants; barbiturates, benzodiazepines, and other sedatives; marijuana; LSD, mescaline and other hallucinogens; inhalants; phencyclidine; and anticholinergics. Licit drugs include ethanol, tobacco and caffeine. No existing book addresses substance abuse from a primarily neurological vantage or includes the topics listed above in one volume. * Comprehensive coverage of neurological aspects of drug abuse and addiction * No other book addresses substance abuse from a primarily neurological viewpoint *