STRUCTURAL CHANGES DUE TO ALCOHOL 22.") 



as they become active, every one becomes skillful along 

 some particular line, although many years of training are 

 necessary before the maximum of efficiency is reached. 



The efficiency centers which are the last to become ac- 

 tive and which require so much energy to train properly 

 are the first to be affected by alcohol. 



169- Structural Changes Due to Alcohol. — Definite changes 

 are found in the protoplasm of nerve cells after the use of 

 alcohol. These consist in a shrinking of the nucleus, the 

 loss of the spindle-shaped (Nissl) bodies (Figure 224), 

 the swelling of the cell, and the presence of vacuoles 

 in the cytoplasm. It is also probable that some of the 

 nerve cells are actually destroyed. These physical 

 changes explain why the results are so great and why 

 complete recovery of mental efficiency in the drunkard is 

 so doubtful. The modern point of view and the one 

 which is becoming firmly established in the treatment of 

 drunkards by physicians is that alcoholism is a disease. 

 Many of the authorities on alcoholism are urging that 

 drunkards should be cared for just as we care for people 

 sick with diphtheria or tuberculosis. 



Anything which can destroy all of the higher and finer 

 emotions, take away ambition, destroy shame, modesty, 

 pride in personal appearance, render one especially liable 

 to common diseases, or lead unerringly to insanity is 

 to be avoided by those who are strong enough to resist, 

 and should be made inaccessible to those who are weak 

 and ignorant. And alcohol has all these effects on man. 1 



1 Alcohol tills our state hospitals for the insane. Insanity is a disorder <>f 

 the mind due to various causes. The one cause which produces thegreatesl 

 number of cases is the intemperate use of narcotics, «>f which ah-,, In, I in it- 

 various forms is the most common. No less than twenty-sis per cenl .>!' the 

 inmates of our state institutions for the insane have become deranged :i- the 

 result of intemperance. 



There can he no doubt that some persons air more Busceptible t" the in- 

 fluence of alcohol than others. They become easily intoxicated and readily 



