Nature vs Nurture: Is Alcohol Use Disorder in Our Genes?

Many factors are involved in the development of AUD, but having a relative, or relatives, living with AUD may account for almost one-half of your individual risk. 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. Alcohol use disorder (AUD) can have a hereditary component, but not everyone living with AUD has a family history of AUD.

Am I at Risk of Becoming Addicted to Alcohol?

The purpose of the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) is to advance knowledge about the complex influences of gene and environment on development and progression of alcohol use disorder (AUD). New genetic variants have been identified, refined endophenotypes have been characterized, and functional information has begun to emerge on known genetic variants that influence risk for and protection from AUD. Scientists have learned through studies of identical and non-identical twins that alcohol use disorder is heritable, with genetic factors accounting for about half of the risk of alcohol dependence. Part of the challenge has been to gather a study that is large enough to detect a genetic signal, said Palmer. They may increase the overall risk by increasing drinking, orreduce risk by reducing drinking.

What does genetic risk mean?

1. New genetic variants have been identified, refined endophenotypes have been characterized, and functional information has begun to emerge on known genetic variants that influence risk for and protection from AUD.
2. Researchers found that six to eleven percent of the phenotypic variation—referring to differences in what physical and behavioral traits are expressed—could be explained by genetic information.
3. Recognizing alcoholism as a disease promotes early intervention, access to appropriate healthcare services, and ongoing support for people struggling with AUD.
4. 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.

Family studies have consistently demonstrated that there is a substantialgenetic contribution to alcohol dependence. Over celebrities that drink alcohol everyday the past two decades, several genesunderlying susceptibility have been identified. Extensive study of the alcoholmetabolizing genes has demonstrated their important role in disease risk.

Genome-wide Association Studies

They seem to lose fewer inhibitions and tolerate alcohol for longer before they pass out. Just alternative to xanax as risk factors increase your chance of experiencing a condition, protective factors lower your risk. Other factors, such as friend groups and level of financial security, may be subject to change. Having a close family relative, such as a parent, can account for up to 60% of your risk of developing AUD.

“We will keep doing gene discovery and use increasingly advanced technology to deliver this information and get a deeper understanding of the role genetics play in human health,” Zhou said. The goal of genetic studies, however, is not only to find associations but also to understand how these variants might promote the development of AUD. In their study, the Yale team discovered that the risk genes were correlated to changes in certain brain regions. This finding suggested to researchers that the risk variants promoted certain brain pathways that contribute to the development of behavior patterns and disorders.

Researchers found that six to eleven percent of the phenotypic variation—referring to differences in what physical and behavioral traits are expressed—could be explained by genetic information. 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. As we’ve learned more about how genes play a role in our health, researchers have discovered that different factors can affect the expression of our genes. There is a growing body of scientific evidence that shows alcoholism has a genetic component.

To date, individual GWASstudies on alcohol dependence and related phenotypes have been relatively modestin size, and most do not reach genome-wide significance. This may reflect boththe limited sample sizes and the clinical and genetic heterogeneity of thedisease. As noted above, the functional ADH1B polymorphism isnot represented on GWAS platforms; GABA-receptor genes are often nominallysignificant but well below genome-wide significance in these studies.

These are things that we can remain mindful of as we continue to develop an understanding of alcoholism on a personal basis. 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 foods that contain alcohol 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. Rather, in AUD, only about fifty percent of the risk appears to be attributed to our genes. This is relatively small in comparison to schizophrenia, where genetics can explain eighty percent of the disease predisposition.

The Role of Genetics in Alcoholism

The AUDIT, a 10-item, self-reported test was developed by the World Health Organization as a screen for hazardous and harmful drinking and can be used as a total (AUDIT-T), AUDIT-Consumption (AUDIT-C) and AUDIT-Problems (AUDIT-P) sub-scores. There are several other genes that have been shown to contribute to the riskof alcohol dependence as well as key endophenotypes. The earliest genes weretypically identified as a result of family-based analyses.