Genetics and Alcoholism: Whats the Connection?

Some mental health conditions may be a risk factor for developing alcohol use disorder, including clinical depression and schizophrenia, which also have a genetic component. Compared to other genetic predictors, the genomic pattern identified here was also a more sensitive predictor of having two or more substance use disorders at once. The genomic pattern linked to general addiction risk also predicted higher risk of mental and physical illness, including psychiatric disorders, suicidal chip carter says he was warned by white house about drug raid the new york times behavior, respiratory disease, heart disease, and chronic pain conditions. In children aged 9 or 10 years without any experience of substance use, these genes correlated with parental substance use and externalizing behavior. The genes with the clearest contribution to the risk for alcoholism andalcohol consumption are alcohol dehydrogenase 1B (ADH1B) andaldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2; mitochondrial aldehydedehydrogenase), two genes central to the metabolism of alcohol (Figure 1)20.

1. Moreover, people who use drugs are facing an increasingly dangerous drug supply, now often tainted with fentanyl.
2. The former relies on family-based samples to identify regions of the genome that co-segregate with the disorder of interest.
3. The alcohol researchcommunity has begun to form larger consortia for meta-analyses and it is anticipatedthat with the resulting increase in sample size the number of robust associationswill increase.
4. Thedifficulties of genetic studies are compounded by environmental heterogeneity inaccess to alcohol and social norms related to drinking.
5. First and perhaps foremost, most studies ofalcohol-related phenotypes have been small – hundreds or a few thousandsamples.

The former relies on family-based samples to identify regions of the genome that co-segregate with the disorder of interest. Alcohol is widely consumed, but excessive use creates serious physical,psychological and social problems and contributes to many diseases. Alcoholism(alcohol dependence, alcohol use disorders) is a maladaptive pattern ofexcessive drinking leading to serious problems. Abundant evidence indicates thatalcoholism is a complex genetic disease, with variations in a large number ofgenes affecting risk.

Is there an alcohol use disorder gene?

In 2021, more than 46 million people in the United States aged 12 or older had at least one substance use disorder, and only 6.3% had received treatment. Moreover, people who use drugs are facing an increasingly dangerous drug supply, now often tainted with fentanyl. Approximately 107,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2021, and 37% of these deaths involved simultaneous exposure to both opioids and stimulant drugs. Drug use and addiction represent a public health crisis, characterized by high social, emotional, and financial costs to families, communities, and society. While genetics can play a significant role in your overall AUD risk assessment, it isn’t the only factor that can elevate your chances of developing AUD.

In many cases, the initial linkage studies were followed by moredetailed genetic analyses employing single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that weregenotyped at high density across the linked regions. Some of the genes identifiedthrough this approach have been replicated across a number of studies and appear tobe robust genetic findings. Given such findings, molecular genetics studies have attempted to identify specific variation within the genome related to increased risk for AUD. Early work in the field focused on genome-wide linkage and candidate gene association studies.

Genetics and alcoholism

There isn’t one single “alcohol use disorder gene.” Rather, there are many different genes that may influence whether someone develops an alcohol use disorder. Hugo Bellen, a geneticist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, said the study “lays the foundation for a genetic approach to dissecting the acute, and possibly the chronic, effects” of alcohol in people. Alcohol use disorder (AUD) often seems to run in families, and we may hear about scientific studies of an “alcoholism gene.” Genetics certainly influence our likelihood of developing AUD, but the story isn’t so simple.

†Note that the official names of several ADH genes have been changed, and theliterature has been confused by some groups using non-standard names for some ofthe genes29. Many people seek medical treatment for AUD and may work with a therapist to learn coping strategies to minimize alcohol cravings and triggers. Additionally, about 1.7% of adolescents ages 12 to 17 were reported as having alcohol use disorder in 2019. According to the National Institute 5 expert tips to quit benzos for good fhe health on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), 5.6% of adults in the United States were living with alcohol use disorder in 2019. By Buddy TBuddy T is a writer and founding member of the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee with decades of experience writing about alcoholism. Because he is a member of a support group that stresses the importance of anonymity at the public level, he does not use his photograph or his real name on this website.

Genetics of Alcohol Use Disorder

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition, text revision (DSM-5-TR), a clinical diagnostic guidebook, indicates that AUD often runs in families at a rate of 3–4 times higher compared with the general population. According to the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, AUD affects approximately 29.5 million people in the United States. More than 800,000 of the people affected are children between the ages of 12 and 17 years.

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. It is now appreciated that a whole spectrum of allele frequencies andeffect sizes may play roles, from common variations with small effects throughrare variants of large effect.

A standard drink is defined in the US as 12ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of spirits, all of which approximate14 g of pure ethanol). The strong effects of binge drinking suggest that merelycalculating an average number of drinks per week is likely to obscure many effectsof alcohol, since it treats 2 standard drinks per day (14 per week) the same as 7drinks on each of two days per week. Children of people with AUD may be 2-6 times more likely to develop problems with alcohol use when compared to those whose parents do not have alcohol use disorder. Genetics may play a role in alcohol use disorder (AUD), but other factors might also contribute to the development of this condition.

A review of studies from 2020, which looked at a genome-wide analysis of more than 435,000 people, found 29 different genetic variants that increased the risk of problematic drinking. In addition to gene discovery, recent molecular genetics research has focused on modeling the aggregate effects of variants across the genome and leveraging other types of ‘omics’ dmt: side effects withdrawal overdose and treatment data to further our understanding of the genetic architecture underlying AUD. Often referred to as “Post-GWAS” approaches, these methods have been used to demonstrate the highly polygenic nature of alcohol-related traits, estimate the heritability and co-heritability of traits, test causal relations between traits, and aid in gene discovery [25,38].

While genetics can account for up to 60% of AUD risk, not everyone with a family history of AUD will develop the condition. AUD isn’t directly caused by genetics, but genetics may predispose you to developing AUD later in life. This risk is considered hereditary and may be passed down to you if you have a family history of AUD.

Alcoholism’s Genetic Component

Research has suggested that it’s a combination of the above risk factors as well as genetics that could determine whether or not you develop alcohol use disorder. The NIAAA points out that genes are only responsible for about half the risk of developing AUD. Environmental factors can also play a role in determining whether someone develops this condition. 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.

EARLY MOLECULAR GENETICS STUDIES

Despite these advances, the molecular genetic investigation of the AUD diagnosis faces multiple challenges moving forward. Perhaps the largest challenge is the way in which the AUD diagnosis is operationalized. The DSM-5 [1] currently requires the endorsement of any 2 of 11 criteria to reach the diagnostic threshold for AUD at the mild severity level. If you are living with alcohol use disorder, know that you are not alone and that there are treatment options. As one 2015 article in Nature points out, researchers have not been able to identify a single gene that determines whether or not you develop an addiction.

Is there any scientific evidence that your genes may predispose you to have an alcohol dependency if your parents or grandparents did? While many studies have been done, and experts agree that there is a hereditary connection, genetics is not the only factor, and we don’t quite know the full impact it has on alcoholism. “Substance use disorders and mental disorders often co-occur, and we know that the most effective treatments help people address both issues at the same time. 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. “Using genomics, we can create a data-driven pipeline to prioritize existing medications for further study and improve chances of discovering new treatments.