The Genetics Of Alcohol Dependence By Marcella Rietschel And Jens Treutlein Uses Association, Linkage And Genome Wide Association

Since the consumption of alcohol is necessary to develop alcoholism, the availability of and attitudes towards alcohol in an individual's environment affect their likelihood of developing the disease.

“The statistical associations between genetic factors and alcohol abuse are very strong” (McNeece & DiNitto, 2012). However, there is still much debate over the validity of genetics as a definite cause for addiction. Perhaps, the reason for this is because the number of children of alcoholics that go on to become alcoholics is still small. Additionally, genetic predisposition cannot explain the number of cases of alcoholics that did not come from alcoholic parents or families. In fact, addiction can be so prominent, that it remains even after the drug use has ended (McNeece & DiNitto, 2012). Therefore, the biological theory should not be ruled as it is based on what takes place in the body. There is no other theory that can explain how a person could still have addiction symptoms when the substance is absent from their system. Predisposition implies that there is a mutation or malfunction in the body that appears to cause a craving or susceptibility to becoming addicted to a substance.

Although there are several different assessments one could use, the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory, (SASSI-3) would be the first choice. It is a “brief self-report, easily administered psychological screening measure that is available in separate versions for adults and adolescents. The Adult SASSI-3 helps recognize individuals who have a high probability of having a substance dependence disorder with an overall empirically tested accuracy of 93%.” Dr. Glenn A. Miller developed the SASSI-3 and is comprised of 67 true-false items with additional 26 item self-report section on substance use for identifying people with a high probability of having a substance dependence disorder. The subtle items of the SASSI-3 appear to have no correlation with the rest of the test. The subtle items may identify some clients who have alcohol or other drug issues the client may not admit to. A counselor having an awareness of their client’s history of alcohol use aids the counselor in identifying clients who are at risk and what treatment strategies may be most effective. The SASSI-3 is quick and easy for the counselor to score; only taking 15 minutes to administer and score. This assessment is helpful in both inpatient and outpatient sites. Although some studies have shown that alcoholism is hereditary, the genes have yet to be identified. Alcoholism is not only complex but involves different pathways that may lead to the development of alcohol dependence. Some factors may

Lastly, Cadoret et al. (1996) conducted one of the first studies that was in fact able to isolate the influence of environmental exposures from potential genetic confounds. In addition to family studies and adoption studies, there have been numerous large-scale twin studies with the aim of examining the role of genetics in susceptibility to addiction. However, the majority of the twin studies conducted have examined the heritability of alcohol abuse and dependence and have not examined the heritable influences on illicit drug use disorders. Past research such as the study by McGue (1998), indicate that the estimates of heritability of alcohol/abuse dependence have ranged from 50%-70%.

Alcoholism is identified by severe dependence or addiction and cumulative patterns of characteristic behaviors. An alcoholic’s frequent intoxication is obvious and destructive; interfering with the ability to socialize and work. These behavior patterns may lead to loss of work and relationships (Merck, 1999). Strong evidence suggests that alcoholism runs in families (Schuckit, 2009). According to a study published by Schuckit (1999) monozygotic twins were at a significantly higher risk of alcoholism if one twin was an alcoholic. Ehlers, Lind, and Wilhelmsen (2008) conducted a study to investigate the influence a single opioid receptor on alcohol dependence rates among Native Americans. Ehlers, et al. (2008) noted that people with lower

The taste was awful. My friend drank a little bit and stopped, unable to take anymore. The thing was, I couldn’t stop” (Sheff, N., 2009, p. 2). This coincides with the risk factor of association with peers who are drug abusers, as it was his friend’s idea to start drinking, but it more so shows the fact that Nic has uncontrollable genetic factors that predisposed him to SUD. This is indicated by Nic explaining that he did not enjoy the taste of alcohol but he could not stop himself from drinking more. “Much of [the risk of SUD] may be conferred genetically” (Weinberg, 2001, p. 345).

Prescott, C. A., Madden, P. A. F., & Stallings, M. C. (2006). Challenges in genetic studies of the etiology of substance use and substance use disorders: Introduction to the special issue. Behavior Genetics, 36(4), 473-482.

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.

There are many different evaluation instruments that are used to test for alcoholism, the results are also used to help with the eventually treatment of the person diagnosed with alcoholism. Some of the evaluation tools that are used to detect alcoholism and the severity are the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism (SSAGA), Alcohol use disorder Identification Test (AUDIT), Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST), T-ACE, Addiction Severity Index (ASI) and the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory (SASSI). SSAGA was created by the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) is used to study the genetic link to alcoholism. (Korsmeyer, P., Kranzler, H., 2009) AUDIT was developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with Austria, Bulgari, Kenya. Mexico, Norway and the United States, making it the first screening designed for international use. There are ten sections to the AUDIT test that are scored 0-4 points, the total number of points determines a person’s severity of alcohol dependency, which is then used to determine the required treatment method. (Korsmeyer, P., Kranzler, H., 2009) MAST is similar to AUDIT as it is a multiple question test, the difference is in the scoring. Each answer is worth 0-1 point and the higher the total, the more the person is at risk for alcoholism. T-ACE is a test specifically for pregnant women, it stands for Tolerance, Annoyed, Cut Down and Eye Opener. The first questions is about

Many current studies are being done on the topic of “addictive personalities. This has been a debatable topic over the years.” In this article, researchers are analyzing the men who had consumed excessive amount of alcohol vs. those in a controlled population. The main objective of this article, is to provide the statistical information, as to rather or not men who consumes alcohol have different personalities to those who are under a controlled population. Questions to be determined are: Do men with excessive alcohol consumption and social stability have an addictive personality versus those who are in a controlled set population? Are there any hidden traits that could cause addictive personalities? Are there any specific personality patterns in those who excessively drink? To evaluate both sets, they were separated into groups or into multidimensional typologies. The males who excessively drink (n=100) and those in a controlled population (n=131). The heavy drinkers were then recruited by advertisement in a regional daily newspaper, while the controlled group was based Swedish Twin Registry. These personalities were then assessed by the Karolinska scales of personalities (KSP). Which were then compared with the normative data. To investigate further, the researchers then used a multivariate projection based approach to look for any hidden structures of traits and any relationships within the groups of heavy drinkers vs. the controlled population to see what would be

Blum and another researcher Noble began looking at alcoholic and non-alcoholic brains. Finally in 1990 after problems with gene probes Blum and Noble found a connection with a mutation they named the A1 allele and alcoholism. Approximately 69% of alcoholics had this A1 allele and 80% of non-alcoholic brains did not have it. Since 30% of the alcoholic brains did not have the A1 allele then they knew this was only one mutation that was involved with alcoholism. Psychologists are saying that by calling alcoholism a disease there become consequences for the alcoholic. They start to see themselves

Is there some genetic difference that perhaps allows some to realize when an elevated blood alcohol level has been reached and transmits a message to the brain to stop drinking that others do not have? These questions have not been clearly answered and are under persistent investigation.

Alcohol dependence is known to be the most severe form of alcohol abuse. A person becomes so dependent on alcohol consumption that he/she loses sight of all the other important things going on around him/her. Family matters and social responsibilities become secondary worries to his/her primary concern for existence, which is drinking (Stephens, 2007). Nearly fourteen million Americans are somewhat dependent on alcohol. Alcohol dependence is more prominent in men, and young adults ages 18-29 (Stephens, 2007). According to a study done by Saitz “85,000 deaths, along with substantial disability from medical and psychiatric consequences, injuries and “secondhand” effects (ex: motor vehicle crashes) are attributed to the use of alcohol” (Saitz, 2005).

When someone says, “You get that laugh or that smile from your father or your mother.” You don’t always believe them, but in some studies today it is said that if your parents or anyone in your family has a history of a drug addiction those traits in their genes have a decent chance of being passed down to the children causing problems for them later in life. According to the Drugs and Addiction article in the 2009 Addiction Journal, “Family, twin and adoption studies suggest that the heritability of substance use disorders is moderate to

Genetic factors play a major and very pertinent role in alcoholism. In actuality, genetic factors may account for half of the total risk for alcoholism. Alcoholism is such a complex disorder that a single gene is not likely to be the main culprit. However, researchers are investigating a number of inherited traits that make some individuals more susceptible to alcoholism than others. Some of the examples are listed below: