The Folate Status of Alcoholics

Plasma and erythrocyte folate levels and plasma vitamin B 12 levels have been studied in a group of 50 well motivated alcholics admitted to a psychiatric unit for the treatment of alcoholism. Sixty-six per cent of the patients had abnormal liver function tests and 12 per cent had neurological complications. The folate status of the alcoholics did not differ significantly from that of 40 healthy blood donors, and was unrelated to the degree of impairment of liver function.