Position Paper-Alcoholism

Alcohol Use Disorder, most commonly known as Alcohol Abuse or Alcohol Dependence, is widely known as problem that occurs with individuals who consumes an enormous amount of alcohol on a regular basis often in a single use. The individual is consumed with the thought of drinking most of the time and often feel as though they need it to continue with living their daily lives, even though, they are not really living at all because the enormous amount of alcohol causes a dysfunction for their daily tasks. It inhibits their ability to take care of their family, have social relationships and performing activities at work. It is believed that genetics can play a massive role towards an individual developing an Alcohol Use Disorder.

Alcoholism is a major social issue around the world today. The ProQuest Staff of SIRS Researcher defines alcoholism as excessive use of alcohol that eventually results in dependence, or addiction where the body craves a drug. There are roughly 140 million alcoholics currently in the world, which results in higher rates of crime, abuse, illness, car crashes, and lower productivity in work (ProQuest Staff). According to Dr. Mark Willenbring, most

To begin, research of genetics has shown some information on how genes support alcoholism being a disease. Genetics and the brain are connected as other organs, such as the heart and genetics are connected (Nurnberger). People can inherit heart diseases from their parents through their genes. There is no difference with alcohol. Alcohol damages the brain cells and can increase the chances of a child to become more dependent on alcohol. According to Nurnberger, “For alcohol dependence, about 50 percent is related to genetic factors and the other half to environmental factors, such as availability of alcohol and cultural factors” (Nurnberger). Although environmental factors play a high role in alcohol consumption, genetics, as shown, have played half the role. People become dependent on alcohol, and not only can it be hereditary to pass the gene to increase the chances of becoming an alcoholic, but alcoholism can even cause a change to other genes to possibly cause depression and anxiety problems (Nurnberger). Saying that alcoholism is not a disease when it can be passed through genes and alter other genes would be like saying autism is not a disease or disorder. The reason is because the brain is genetically altered, like alcoholism, and it can change other

At the beginning of the 21st century, it was estimated that the annual number of deaths related to excessive drinking exceeded 100,000 in the United States alone (“Alcoholism”). In fact, in 1995, 140 million Americans were using alcohol is an abusing way (Ammerman, Ott, and Tarter). “It is a chronic and progressive illness that involves the excessive inappropriate ingestion of ethyl alcohol” (“Alcoholism”). Equally, it can be characterized as an emotional and many times, physical dependence on alcohol. It is thought to come from a combination of a wide range of physiological, social, and genetic factors (“Alcoholism”). Even

Most alcoholics won’t admit to having a dependence on alcohol. Due to their reluctance to acknowledge they may have a problem, it could be tricky to diagnose and treat them. So it’s usually up to the people around them to be able to see the signs of alcoholism. Even the most heavily addicted drinker is unlikely to show every sign and symptom, and not every alcoholic will display the same ones.

Based on the results of Swedish adoption studies, some researchers divide alcoholism into two types. Type I, the most common, occurs in both men and women and is associated with adult-onset alcohol dependence. This form, also known as "milieu-limited" alcoholism, appears to be the result of "genetic predisposition and environmental provocation," according to NIAAA's 1991 publication Alcohol Research: Promise for the Decade--that is, the development of alcoholism in these cases is an interaction between inherited predisposition and the person's life situations.

Commonly referred to as alcohol use disorder, alcoholism is the most severe form of alcohol abuse. It involves the inability to manage drinking habits (Galbicsek, 2016). Individuals who suffer from alcoholism feel as if they cannot live without consuming alcohol. Signs of alcoholism may include craving alcohol whenever you are not consuming, feeling the need to keep drinking more, and putting alcohol above responsibilities. Alcoholism comes with short term and long term effects. Short-term effects may include reduced brain activity and slow reaction time. Long term effects may include liver disease and bone loss (Galbicsek, 2016).

Alcohol like many other drugs can be addictive; the question is how our genetic makeup and environment play a role in this does? Alcoholism is a difficult condition that encompasses both the genetic and environmental factors. Like other addictive drugs, youths who consume alcohol are more likely to become addicted and remain addicted throughout their adult lives. Alcoholism has a very high impact on our society. The Center for Disease Control informs us that there are over 100,000 alcohol related deaths every year due to drunk drivers and other alcohol related injuries and diseases. Each day 65 drivers die in drunk driving accidents according to the California Capitol Report. In 1988, 25,000 Americans were killed in auto accidents involving

They correspondingly focused on a gene that known for its linkage to alcohol dependency, GABRA2. GABRA2 functions as a neurotransmitter in the brain that coincides with the behavior effects of alcohol (Beirut et al., 2010). Using their knowledge of SNPs with the GABRA2 gene, they compared approximately ≈1,900 individuals of European and African-American descent with alcohol dependency issues to ≈1,900 individuals that have been exposed to alcohol, nonetheless had no known link to dependency. The results of the case presented that out of studied individuals, European-American males were the most commonly affected, however of the 15 SNPs that were studied with them, none displayed a correlation that was higher than the p-value threshold of

Since 1989, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has dedicated themselves to identify the specific genes that play

Risk taking occurs as researchers have shown because the brain continues to develop important communication connections and further refines its function. During this time adolescents search for situations that may be hazardous. Hereditary factors are also another cause of underage drinking. Being a child of an alcoholic or having several alcoholic family members places a person at a high risk for alcoholic problems. Environmental aspects, pinpointing a genetic contribution will not tell the whole story as drinking behavior reflects a complex interplay between inherited and environmental factors. By having parents who heavily drink and view it as favorable their children will also drink.

If not genetically manifested, there are stages of drinking that lead up to alcoholism. The safest type of drinker, who tends to follow the law, is the social drinker who does not drink alone, typically only drinks with meals or at social events and is responsible about their alcohol consumption. The next stage in alcoholism is the situational drinker. Unlike the social drinker, they usually drink alone and consume alcohol at periods of stress in their lives. The more advanced step of this stage is the problem drinker, when in periods of stress they drink heavily to cope. The stage before alcoholism is binge drinking, where you uncontrollably drink on a regular basis. Finally, one reaches the diagnosis of an alcoholic: uncontrolled and excessive drinking. An alcoholic feels they cannot manage their life without regular and compulsive drinking.

Signs of Alcoholism are spending a lot of money and time in consuming alcohol. People with Alcoholism choose to drink instead of dealing with responsibilities such as going to work, and dealing with family responsibilities. Alcoholics engage in risky behavior like driving a car while intoxicated, having unprotected sex and abusing drugs. A person who abuses alcohol often builds a tolerance which means they need a significant amount of alcohol to reach a level of intoxication. A person who consumes a lot of liquor often has severe withdrawals when they don’t have liquor in their

Alcoholism is a very serious disease, which can cause illness, death, injuries, schooling problems, family breakups, and crime. It is a proven fact the alcohol kills more people than any other illegal drugs combined. However, alcohol courses freely through American society, from college bars to corporate lunches. In a recent journal article by The Scientist, it is stated, "Technology shows alcohol abuse changes brain's molecular programming and circuitry? (Scientist). Thus revealing that alcohol is a quick fix that will hurt us all in the long run.

The problem with alcoholism is, worst case scenario, people can die. Also if you drink too much alcohol, it can cause heart and liver disease, cause trouble to the brain, the pancreas, immune system, and heart, and can cause mouth, esophagus, throat, liver, and breast cancer. Also if you’re an alcoholic and need a transplant, you are unable to be put on the list until you are sober for at least a year. Alcoholism, or alcohol dependency, is a disease where you are strongly dependent on alcohol or are addicted to it. Milder cases of alcoholism are diagnosed as alcohol abuse. Alcoholism is a self-diagnosable disease. Some outcomes of alcohol abuse are, failure to