ALCOHOL - C2H5OH - THE BIG ISSUES

Alcohol comes up in many different ways in the final exams.
​
Posted above, is one of my teaching Powerpoints. Alcohol is a big problem in GI wards, hepatobiliary medicine and mostly the EMERGENCY department!

Some of the things you should likely be aware of:

1. Social issues
2. PABRINEX - what it is and what it is used for? How is it made up for administration? What colour is it? What is the dose regime?
3. Follow-on medications from pabrinex in alcoholics - vitamin B co-strong, thiamine etc.
4. Health effects of alcohol - GI, liver, CVS, neurological, cerebrovascular disease - so many! GI bleeds are common questions. What is octreotide? 
5. Alcohol induced psychosis
6. Alcohol levels in biochemistry - glucose levels/diabetic alcoholics
7. Decreased GCS due to alcohol
8. Detox regimes using chlordiazepoxide - signs of alcohol withdrawal etc.
9. Withdrawal seizures and management
10. Wernicke's encephalopathy and Korsakoff's Psychosis - what medication helps with these conditions?
11. Alcohol liaison nurses
12. Capacity and consent of intoxicated persons
13. Support networks for alcoholics including hostels, helplines, specialist nurses, addiction psychiatrist
14. What do liver function tests include? What emzymes are raised (or what is low?) in alcohol related disease? Could you interpret the synthetic function of the liver? What other biochemical products are useful to know in hepatic disease?
15. Nutritional compromise - are alcoholics deplete of certain electrolytes?
16. Are there any cardiac side effects of long-term alcohol abuse?