Abstract
Clinical signs of sex hormone disturbances in men with alcoholism and/or liver diseases consist of testicular atrophy, hypo- or aspermia, sexual dysfunction, gynecomastia, and loss of axillary hair. Disturbances of the menstrual pattern in women with cirrhosis as well as in alcoholic women have been recognized for many years. However, alcoholic patients have other medical problems, for example liver and/or pancreatic dysfunction, malnutrition and/or infectious diseases that can contribute to endocrine disturbances. In comparison to the numerous studies of sex hormone changes in men with chronic liver diseases, very few studies have addressed the question of sexual, menstrual or sex hormone changes in women with liver diseases. Whether the sex hormone disturbances observed in alcoholic patients are consequences of liver dysfunction or induced by ethanol or both is still debated.