[Central nervous system damage in alcoholism and its dietary treatment (author's transl)].

Alcohol may lead to central nervous system damage through direct toxic action (intoxication and withdrawal). In addition fundamental dietary insufficiencies in the alcoholic may lead to nutritional disease of the CNS mainly through thiamin deficiency (Wernicke Korsakow syndrome). This syndrome may be aggravated by treatment with intravenous carbohydrates. It has been speculated that the rare syndrome of central pontine myelinolysis may be caused by intravenous administration of fluids in the presence of increased secretion of ADH during withdrawal. The differential diagnosis of changes in consciousness in an alcoholic also includes chronic subdural haematoma.