Author: Alex Thompson

Is Addiction Hereditary?

According to a review from 2016, genes that promote alcohol metabolism and the production of enzymes, such as alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase, can be protective against AUD. Your genetics don’t only increase your risk of AUD — they may have protective elements as well. Your genetics can influence how likely you are to develop AUD, but there’s currently no evidence of a specific gene that directly causes AUD once you start drinking.

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

1. Rather, in AUD, only about fifty percent of the risk appears to be attributed to our genes.
2. Part of the challenge has been to gather a study that is large enough to detect a genetic signal, said Palmer.
3. Alcohol use disorder is a pattern of alcohol use that involves problems controlling your drinking, being preoccupied with alcohol or continuing to use alcohol even when it causes problems.
4. 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.

Their crucial work saves lives every day.Let Mayo Clinic researchers know they’re appreciated with a quick message. 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. American Addiction Centers (AAC) is committed to delivering original, truthful, accurate, unbiased, and medically current information.

Am I at Risk of Becoming Addicted to Alcohol?

Several other cohorts from dbGAP also contributed to large sample size of alcohol consumption GWAS by Liu et al, 2019. Genome-wide data on 14,904 DSM-IV diagnosed AD individuals and 37,944 controls from 28 case/control and family-based studies were meta-analyzed for PGC’s AD GWAS. Genetics and family history are the most correlated with risk of AUD; in fact, genetic risk is about half of the problem, while family history is the other half.

However, one year later, Joel Gelernter, a professor of genetics and neuroscience at the Yale School of Medicine, along with his team could not find the association between the D2 dopamine receptor gene and AUD, showing a lack of replicability in the earlier study. Alcohol use disorder is a pattern of alcohol use that involves problems controlling your drinking, being preoccupied with alcohol or continuing to use alcohol even when it causes problems. This disorder also involves having to drink more to get the same effect or having withdrawal symptoms when you rapidly decrease or stop drinking. Alcohol use disorder includes a level of drinking that’s sometimes called alcoholism. That doesn’t mean you’ll absolutely develop AUD if you have a family member living with the condition. You may have a higher genetic predisposition, but the underlying causes of AUD are multifaceted and complex.

Figure 1: Relationship among recently published genome-wide association studies related to AUDs.

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) can have a hereditary component, but not everyone living with AUD has a family history of AUD. Beyond that, Palmer and his team want to develop a better understand of how the genes they’ve identified might influence these traits, but using animal and cellular models. Research shows that genetics have somewhere between a 40% and 60% influence on addiction. Disease can be woven into your DNA — and that includes the disease of drug addiction. Having a close family relative, such as a parent, can account for up to 60% of your risk of developing AUD. According to the DSM-5-TR, the more relatives you have living with AUD and the closer they are to you in relation, the higher your individual genetic risk becomes.

Cited by other articles

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. Therefore, as research progresses, consideration must still be made for the environment—the “nurture”—that individuals were raised and live in. We need to spend more time in gene discovery before bringing it into patient care,” Zhou said. While the D2 dopamine receptor gene did not have the effect expected on alcoholism, the study contributed to moving forward genetic research.

About half of your susceptibility to developing a substance use disorder (SUD) can be hereditary. Genetics can mark you as more prone to use alcohol, tobacco products or drugs such as cocaine, heroin and opioids. There has been limited knowledge of the molecular genetic underpinnings of addiction until now.

This risk is considered hereditary and may be passed down to you if you have a family history of AUD. Your genetic risk refers to the likelihood that specific genes or genetic variants passed down to you will lead to a particular condition. “In fact, using this questionnaire in a population not ascertained for alcohol use disorders we have been able to achieve the largest sample size even obtained in the field of alcohol use disorders,” said Sanchez Roige.

“Those biological insights are critical to potentially developing better strategies for prevention and treatment of alcoholism and related psychiatric disorders,” he said. With current review, we aim to present the recent advances in genetic and molecular studies of AUDs. Recent successes in genetic studies of AUDs will definetely motivate researchers and lead to better therapeutic interventions for this complex disorder. The world around you also can play a significant role in opening a door that leads to problematic substance use, notes Dr. Anand. It is no secret that the genes we inherit from our parents determine simple physical traits such as hair color and height.

Genetics aren’t the only way your parents or caregivers can influence AUD risk. Living in a household where you’re regularly exposed to parental alcohol use can also increase your chances of AUD, regardless of your genetic predisposition. Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a diagnosis once referred to as “alcoholism.” It’s a condition characterized by patterns of excessive alcohol misuse despite negative consequences and major distress in important areas of daily function. In closing, risks for alcohol-related harm are influenced by a wide range of factors, and alcohol-related harm can happen to anyone. See the Core articles on screening and practice change for tips to support you and your practice.