Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome

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Alcohol is one of the most widely used recreational drugs in the world. The use of alcohol as a substance dates back many centuries. Archeological discoveries of Stone Age jugs may suggest that the intentional fermentation of beverages existed as early as the Neolithic period. An alcoholic drink is categorised as a liquid that contains a substantial quantity of ethanol. Throughout history alcohol has been used in religious ceremonies, for medicinal purposes and in social events. Some people develop a dependency on alcohol and the generic term used to label people is as an alcoholic. The label ‘alcoholic’ refers to a person that consumes large quantities of alcohol on a regular basis. This can thus lead to a condition referred to as Alcohol …show more content…
WKS consists of two separate syndromes, one which is a severe, short–lived condition called Wernicke’s encephalopathy and the other a long–lasting, debilitating condition known as Korsakoff’s psychosis (Victor 1989). In order to treat Wernicke’s encephalopathy, thiamine doses must be administered daily, however if the person is hypoglycaemic and is required to administer glucose, then thiamine must be given concurrently as the glucose will rapidly consume the remaining thiamine reserves thus enhancing the …show more content…
It is thought the closer a persons genetic relationship, the more likely they are to develop an addiction. However this could be criticised as families share a common environment so it may no be solely down to genes. Monozygotic twins are often used in experiments as they have identical genes (Nurnberger 2002). If Alcohol use disorder is due to genetic factors MZ twins would be expected to have a higher concordance rate than Dizygotic twins (Bucholz 1994). Evidence has shown that male twins who have been adopted whose biological parents had an Alcohol use disorder have an increased risk of developing an addiction themselves, even if they are raised away form there parents (Reich 1998). This suggests that genetic factors play a role in

Unit 18 M1

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