Skin diseases in alcoholics.

Alcohol abuse is associated with many health problems, especially skin changes. As a small, water- and lipid-soluble molecule, alcohol reaches all tissues of the body and affects most vital functions. Cutaneous diseases are now emerging as useful markers of alcoholism detectable at an early and possibly reversible stage of the disease, thus being of substantial importance to dermatologists and general practitioners. The most common skin manifestations of alcoholism presented in this review article are urticarial reactions, porphyria cutanea tarda, flushing, cutaneous stigmata of cirrhosis, psoriasis, pruritus, seborrheic dermatitis, and rosacea.