Is Alcohol Abuse Hereditary? Why Alcoholism May be Inherited
Early association studies focused on a limited number of variants in or near genes selected a priori for their biological relevance to the trait of interest or physical location in the genome informed by prior linkage results. These inconsistent findings have tempered expectations and investment in both linkage and candidate gene studies. Recent estimates indicate that 5.6% of individuals meet criteria for a past year AUD [2], resulting in significant social, economic and public health costs [3,4].
Genes Encoding Enzymes Involved in Alcohol Metabolism
- With rapid advances over the past 10 years in technologies for discovering and analyzing the functions of genes, researchers are now increasingly able to get at the biological roots of complex disorders such as substance abuse and addiction.
- Studies arerevealing other genes in which variants impact risk for alcoholism or relatedtraits, including GABRA2, CHRM2,KCNJ6, and AUTS2.
- And these distinctions will be important for identifying the genetics of addiction, the researchers said.
- It’s difficult to directly answer the question of whether or not alcoholism and genetics go hand-in-hand.
Women are at risk of developing AUD faster than men due to differences in body mass, hormones, and metabolism. Moving forward, continued efforts to integrate large GWAS datasets examining alcohol use remain critical to the detection and replication of genome-wide significant associations. These findings will further our understanding of the genetic etiology of AUD, and will also promote the advancement of “Post-GWAS” approaches seeking to better understand the mechanisms through which genetic variation leads to increased AUD risk. It is hoped that such information will ultimately lead to improved prevention and treatment efforts.
Why Alcoholism Runs in Families
For instance, some claim that it would make more sense to direct resources toward reducing the use of potentially addictive substances across the board than to identify–and potentially stigmatize–the individuals who would be most affected by such reductions. Undoubtedly, there is value in limiting the use of alcohol, nicotine and other mood-altering drugs in general. There is also value, however, in supporting individual self-knowledge as it pertains to susceptibility so that genetics of alcoholism people can make informed choices for themselves and in shaping a culture that regards this as a positive goal. These findings reinforce the notion that there are different paths to alcohol dependence and different physiological pathways underlying them. The ADH risk variants may contribute to the development of alcoholism directly by promoting heavy drinking, whereas the GABRA2 variants predispose a person to conduct problems, which are themselves a risk factor for alcoholism.
The Role of Environment in Alcoholism
Because the diagnosis of an AUD requires the presence of a set ofsymptoms from a checklist, there are many different ways one could meet thecriteria. There are 35 different ways one could pick 3 criteria from 7 (DSM-IValcohol dependence) and 330 ways to pick 4 from 11 (DSM-5 severe AUD). The clinicalheterogeneity likely reflects the genetic heterogeneity of the disease. Thedifficulties of genetic studies are compounded by environmental heterogeneity inaccess to alcohol and social norms related to drinking. Linkage studies are limited in terms of their spatial resolution, and thus, association studies that measure differences in allele frequencies between ‘case’ and ‘control’ populations were also pursued.
The shared genetic mechanisms between substance use and mental disorders revealed in this study underscore the importance of thinking about these disorders in tandem,” said NIMH Director Joshua A. Gordon, M.D., Ph.D. While there are environmental and social factors that influence the risk for alcoholism, there is also a genetic component. Your genetic risk refers to the likelihood that specific genes or genetic variants passed down to you will lead to a particular condition. https://ecosoberhouse.com/ Variations in many other genes also have been implicated in contributing to alcoholism risk. Other genes that also have been identified encode components of the neurotransmitter systems using dopamine, endogenous opioids, serotonin, and acetylcholine; nicotinic receptors; and a hormonal system known as the hypothalamic–pituitary axis. AUD doesn’t form because of a single gene, nor are genetics the only reason why someone develops an alcohol use disorder.
Alcohol metabolism and the risk for AUD
- While there is overlap between alcohol use disorder and alcohol consumption, the researchers did further analysis and found a “distinct genetic architecture” differentiating alcohol abuse from alcohol consumption.
- 1Due to space constraints the present review will use the term AUD to refer to both DSM-5 defined alcohol use disorder and DSM-IV defined alcohol dependence.
- Genetics may play a role in alcohol use disorder (AUD), but other factors might also contribute to the development of this condition.
- People are also complex and manifest problems with alcohol in diverse ways, especially in the early stages of disease, although cases come to resemble one another clinically in the later stages of illness.
Family, twin, and adoption studies have shown that alcoholism definitely has a genetic component. In 1990, Blum et al. proposed an association between the A1 allele of the DRD2 gene and alcoholism. The DRD2 gene was the first candidate gene that showed promise of an association with alcoholism. Thinking of addiction as genetic begins with understanding that addiction is a chronic relapsing brain disorder. “In many ways, it’s no different than having a family history with heart disease or diabetes,” says Dr. Anand.