Alcoholism Research: A Narrative Review
Tiffany Field
This literature review on alcoholism publications from the last few years suggests that several negative and somewhat disparate effects have been noted for alcoholism use disorder (AUD). These include depression, gastrointestinal conditions, neuroimmune deficits, inferior executive function, greater cortisol regeneration, decreased iron in the hippocampus, accelerated brain age and gait ataxia. A few risks/predictor variables have been noted for AUD in this current literature including lower IQ and cognitive performance, subjective time dilation and greater sleep latency. Only a couple studies in this current literature on AUD have addressed potential underlying biological mechanisms for AUD including less central amygdala neuroimmune signaling and impaired dopamine synthesis. At least four studies on interventions for alcoholism have appeared in this current literature including studies on prevalence data, brain stimulation, medications and ketamine.
