The Gastric Secretion in Chronic Alcoholic Addiction

Abstract

The present study is concerned with the status of gastric secretion in individuals chronically addicted to the use of large quantities of ethyl alcohol. Prolonged overindulgence in spiritous liquors has long been cited as one of the foremost causes of chronlc gastritis and deficient gastric secretion. Hirsch (1) studied histologically the stomachs of 22 individuals dying from delirium tremens, and although 3 showed mucoid degeneration, none showed any active inflammatory process. Thomsen (2) administered large quantities of alcohol to one dog by means of a Pavlov pouch, over a 2-year period. A gradual change from acute to chronic inflammation was observed histologically; there was a decrease in the volume of juice secreted, but no change in the acidity or peptic activity.Seidelin (3) conducted a clinical study of gastric secretion on elderly individuals with various diseases, using the Ewald test meal. Among 14 cases of chronic alcoholism, 7 showed anacidity, 1 hypoacidity, and 6 normal acidity. Peptic digestion was only slightly, if at all, impaired. Vogelius (4) studied 83 cases of chronic uncomplicated alcoholism, using the Ewald meal, and found 41 with achlorhydria, 13 with hypochlorhydria, and 29 with normal acidity. Merritt and Moore (5) observed 8 alcoholics with associated neuritis resulting from ingestion of impure Jamaica ginger .(containing tri-orthocresyl phosphate). Seven of the 8 showed normal gastric acidity. Minot, Strauss, and Cobb (6) studied the gastric acidity of 43 patients with " alcoholic " neuritis, using the alcohol test meal. Of these 15 had hypoacidity and 21 anacidity. Ten of the latter showed no free acid in the gastric juice even after the subcutaneous administration of histamine. These investigators suggested that the incidence of hypoand anacidity was greater in "alcoholics" polyneuritis than in simple chronic alcoholism, ascribing the difference to a deficiency factor. Villaret et al. (7) reported 50 cases of " alcoholic " polyneuritis, using 1 mgm. of histamine subcutaneously on each subject. Of these, 33 had achlorhydria, 12 hypochlorhydria, and 5 normal acidity. Joffe and Jolliffe (8) observed 105 chronic alcoholics, using the alcohol test meal; histamine was given only when no acid was obtained after alcohol.