Genetics of Alcoholism
Unprecedented Study Maps Genes Linked to Alcoholism
In a genetic study of unprecedented scope, researchers have used new genomic technology to indentify human genes in people most at risk for developing alcoholism, which could revolutionize treatment and prevention options.
Risk Factors: Family History of Alcoholism, Disinhibition
All individuals with a family history of alcoholism are at risk for developing alcohol abuse disorders, but males who also have behavioral disinhibition are at the greatest risk, according to research at the Behavioral Sciences Laboratories.
New Genes Found For Excessive Alcohol Drinking
Researchers have identified new genes that may contribute to excessive alcohol consumption, which provide clues to the underlying molecular mechanisms and allow scientists to focus on targets not previously implicated in excessive drinking.
Stress Risky With Family History of Alcoholism
Individuals with a family history of alcoholism tend to have a biological dysfunction in their response to stress before they develop drinking problems that others exhibit only after alcohol problems arise.
Sweet Tooth Linked to Alcoholism
Can a child's sweet tooth predict a tendency toward alcoholism in later life? Researchers from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill say, yes.
Gene Mutation Linked to Alcoholism
Once again scientists have uncovered genetic evidence linked to alcohol-dependent persons that could lead to the development of medication to treat alcoholism.
Brain Protein Linked to Drinking
Researchers have linked a protein found in the brain to both alcohol-seeking behavior and the sensitivity to the effects of alcohol intoxication.
Gene Linked to Drinkers' Response to Alcohol
How alcohol makes a person feel can play a part in whether or not that drinker develops alcohol problems and now researchers believe they have found the gene that is directly linked to a drinker's level of response to alcohol.
Early Childhood Drinking Not Linked to Family History
Child psychiatrists have found that a child's characteristics and environment are more like to affect the age at which they take their first drink than a family history of alcoholism.
Brain Protein Linked to Alcoholism and Anxiety
Researchers have discovered that a protein found in the brain is genetically linked to alcoholism and anxiety and that protein can be manipulated to increase or decrease anxiety and drinking behaviors.
Gene Phenotypes Key to Many Negative Alcohol Effects
Investigators have begun to examine alcohol dependence in relation to its component parts – called phenotypes – to better understand the genetic bases of alcohol use and dependence.
U.S., Russian Alcoholics Share Similar Gene
Comparison of research findings suggests that the structure and frequencies of GABRA2 haplotypes -- a group of variations that are inherited together -- are very similar in U.S. and Russian alcoholics.
Supportive Family Can Overcome Genetic Alcoholism Risks
A genetic tendency toward alcoholism is affect by the positive and negative influences of the family environment of adolescents. Poor family relations can increase the risk, but a positive environment can reduce the risk of developing drinking problems.
Early Motor Skills May Predict Alcoholism
Researchers have found that developmental deficits in cerebellar function – as reflected by measures of motor development in the first year of life – may predict the development of adult alcohol dependence.
Alcohol Affects Body's 'Gene Expression'
Researchers now know that alcohol can change gene expression in the brain, and that these changes are likely responsible for many of the 'symptoms' of addiction, such as tolerance, physical dependence, and craving.
Gene Variant Linked to Alcohol's Effects
Individuals with the gene variant have greater subjective feelings to alcohol's effects as well as a greater likelihood of a family history of alcohol-use disorders.
Alcoholism: Is It Inherited?
There is a growing body of scientific evidence that alcoholism has a genetic component, although the gene has not been identified.
Genetics of Alcoholism
The idea that alcoholism runs in families is an ancient one. Science has advanced this idea from the status of folk-observation to systematic investigation.
Genetics Play Role in Alcohol Violence, Withdrawals
Genetic factors may not only play a role in a person's committal of violence while intoxicated, but may also play a role in vulnerability to alcohol withdrawal-associated delirium tremens.
Taste Gene Can Effect Drinking Behaviors
Genetic variation in taste influences the sensations from alcoholic beverages, and could be one of the genetic factors that interact with environmental factors to determine risk of excess alcohol consumption.
Fruitflies Used to Examine Alcohol Tolerance
Rapid and chronic tolerance are produced by different types of previous experience with alcohol.
Children of Alcoholics Get Less 'Warning Signs'
Receptors in the brain that are highly sensitive to alcohol may function differently in a person with a family history of alcoholism, according to a Yale study.
Scientists Believe Genes Determine Response to Alcohol
A low level of response to alcohol can relate to risk status, predict future alcoholism, and has a heritability as high as 60 percent, researchers claim.
Sweet Tooth, Novely Seeking Can Predict Alcoholism
New findings indicate that alcoholic status can be predicted by a combination of two independent factors - sweet liking and novelty seeking.
Genes Influence Alcohol Consumption, Dependence
New research has found that variation in long-term average alcohol intake is almost entirely due to genetic differences. Some genes affect both alcohol intake and dependence, while others affect only dependence.
Scientists Find Gene Influencing Drug Withdrawal
One of the genes that influences drug physical dependence and associated withdrawal has been identified at Oregon Health and Science University.
Drunken Worms Reveal a Genetic Basis of Alcohol Response
Subtle differences between worm strains in the gene for a brain protein called NPR-1 explains differences in the worms' alcohol sensitivity.
Alcohol-Dependence Gene Identified
Investigators have identified a gene that appears to increase the risk of alcoholism. But it is not known how GABRG3 influences alcoholism risk.
Genetics and Motivations to Drink Alcohol
A new study has found that a person's genetic makeup may influence their motivation to drink, which can, in turn, enhance behaviors that increase the risk for alcoholism.
Family Important Factor in Developing Alcoholism
Family environmental influences can be important factors in the development of alcohol abuse disorders in offspring with increased genetic risk for alcoholism, according to an article in the December 2003 issue of The Archives of General Psychiatry.
Gene Linked to Anxiety in Women
Researchers have identified a genetic factor that appears to influence anxiety in women which could be a warning signal for developing alcoholism.
Gene Discourages Alcoholism in Jews
A new study suggests that genes, not religion, may help explain why Jews generally have fewer problems with alcohol than Caucasians in general.
Genetics, Alcohol Sensitivity, and Behavior
Individual differences in alcohol response – ranging from sleepy to social, sad to happy – have a tremendous influence on a person's risk for developing alcohol dependence.
Chromosomal Regions Linked to Alcoholism
A study has identified three chromosomal regions in the human genome that appear to hold genes that affect low response to alcohol. Researchers hope this will lead to finding the specific genes linked to alcoholism.
Sensation-Seeking Behavior in Alcoholic Men
Research has found a genetic link between the a specific dopamine receptor gene and sensation seeking among male alcoholic patients.
Sweet Tooth 'Marker' for Alcoholism?
New research indicates that a liking for sweets precedes alcoholism and may in fact serve as a 'marker' for the genetic risk for developing alcoholism.
Taste Test May Identify Alcoholism Risk
Individuals with a paternal history of alcoholism rate salty solutions as less pleasurable and sour solutions as more intense and less pleasurable than individuals with no paternal history of alcoholism.
View of American Indian Drinking 'Bias'
A new study of alcohol dependence among two culturally distinct tribes in the United States has found that alcohol problems are not nearly as serious as some stereotypes may suggest.
Family History of Alcoholism: Are You at Risk?
If you are among the millions of people in this country who have a parent, grandparent, or other close relative with alcoholism, you may have wondered what your family's history of alcoholism means for you.