Alcoholic lung disease is

disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...

of the lungs caused by excessive alcohol. The term 'alcoholic lung disease' is not a generally accepted medical diagnosis, and "the association between alcohol abuse and acute lung injury remains largely unrecognized, even by lung researchers". Chronic alcohol ingestion impairs multiple critical cellular functions in the lung. These cellular impairments lead to increased susceptibility to the serious complications from a pre-existing lung disease. Recent research cites alcoholic lung disease as comparable to liver disease in alcohol-related mortality.

Alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomin ...

s have a higher risk of developing

acute respiratory distress syndrome Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a type of respiratory failure characterized by rapid onset of widespread inflammation in the lungs. Symptoms include shortness of breath (dyspnea), rapid breathing (tachypnea), and bluish skin colo ...

(ARDS) and experience higher rates of mortality from ARDS when compared to non-alcoholics.

Alcohol use disorder Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomin ...

can cause a susceptibility to infection after major trauma to the lungs / respiratory system. It creates an increased risk of aspiration of

gastric acid Gastric acid, gastric juice, or stomach acid is a digestive fluid formed within the stomach lining. With a pH between 1 and 3, gastric acid plays a key role in digestion of proteins by activating digestive enzymes, which together break down the ...

microbes A microorganism, or microbe,, ''mikros'', "small") and ''organism'' from the el, ὀργανισμός, ''organismós'', "organism"). It is usually written as a single word but is sometimes hyphenated (''micro-organism''), especially in olde ...

from the upper part of the throat, decreased mucous-facilitated clearance of

bacterial pathogen Pathogenic bacteria are bacteria that can cause disease. This article focuses on the bacteria that are pathogenic to humans. Most species of bacteria are harmless and are often beneficial but others can cause infectious diseases. The number of ...

s from the upper airway and impaired pulmonary host defenses. This increased colonization by pathogenic organisms, combined with the acute intoxicating effects of alcohol and the subsequent depression of the normally protective gag and cough reflexes, leads to more frequent and severe pneumonia from

gram-negative Gram-negative bacteria are bacteria that do not retain the crystal violet stain used in the Gram staining method of bacterial differentiation. They are characterized by their cell envelopes, which are composed of a thin peptidoglycan cell wall ...

organisms. Defects in the function of the upper airway's clearance mechanisms in alcoholic patients have been detected.

Cause

Pneumonia is a form of acute respiratory infection that affects the lung parenchyma and oxygenation. When a patient with pneumonia is an alcoholic, the mortality rate exceeds by 50% if they are placed into intensive care (ICU). According to Kershaw, C 2008 page 1, " of 2001, pneumonia was the sixth most common cause of death in the United States". Alcoholism increases mortality from pneumonia because of

leukopenia Leukopenia () is a decrease in the number of leukocytes (WBC). Found in the blood, they are the white blood cells, and are the body's primary defense against an infection. Thus the condition of leukopenia places individuals at increased risk of inf ...

, lower white blood cell counts, which leads to a worse infection because white blood cells help fight the bacterial infection, so lower numbers result in a less effective immune response. Alcoholics are at an increased risk for infection with tissue-damaging gram-negative pathogens or for the spread of bacteria in the blood.

Mechanism

The mechanisms of alcoholic lung disease are: *

Metabolism Metabolism (, from el, μεταβολή ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cell ...

of alcohol reduces

glutathione Glutathione (GSH, ) is an antioxidant in plants, animals, fungi, and some bacteria and archaea. Glutathione is capable of preventing damage to important cellular components caused by sources such as reactive oxygen species, free radicals, pero ...

anti-oxidant Antioxidants are compounds that inhibit oxidation, a chemical reaction that can produce free radicals. This can lead to polymerization and other chain reactions. They are frequently added to industrial products, such as fuels and lubricants, ...

levels in the lungs. * Oxidation damage to the cells impairs the ability of the lungs to remove fluid. * Oxidative damage to cells reduces

immune response An immune response is a reaction which occurs within an organism for the purpose of defending against foreign invaders. These invaders include a wide variety of different microorganisms including viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi which could ...

. * Oxidative damage to cells results in a reduced ability to recover from injury. These chemical changes compound the negative mechanical and microbiological effects of alcoholism on the respiratory system. These include impaired

gag reflex The pharyngeal reflex or gag reflex is a reflex muscular contraction of the back of the throat, evoked by touching the roof of the mouth, the back of the tongue, the area around the tonsils, the uvula, and the back of the throat. It, along with othe ...

and

cilia The cilium, plural cilia (), is a membrane-bound organelle found on most types of eukaryotic cell, and certain microorganisms known as ciliates. Cilia are absent in bacteria and archaea. The cilium has the shape of a slender threadlike projecti ...

function and greater likelihood of colonies of

pneumococcal ''Streptococcus pneumoniae'', or pneumococcus, is a Gram-positive, spherical bacteria, alpha-hemolytic (under aerobic conditions) or beta-hemolytic (under anaerobic conditions), aerotolerant anaerobic member of the genus Streptococcus. They are ...

bacteria in the upper respiratory system.

Diagnosis

Differential diagnosis

Although lung damage from concurrent smoking and drug use is often indistinguishable from alcoholic lung disease, there is support for considering alcoholic lung disease as an independent syndrome. Over the last decade, evidence from epistemological studies show that hazardous alcohol use alone can increase by as much as fourfold the risk for

References

External links

{{Psychoactive substance use Alcohol and health Lung disorders