Scientists have long wondered if there is a gene for alcoholism. Is alcoholism itself a disease or a vice? Because the disease does not depend on a person, but a person brings destructive habits into his life himself. Why are some people completely indifferent to alcohol, while others, on the contrary, are looking for places and reasons to drink it? It is worth saying that such questions are asked not only by scientists, but also by ordinary people who want to get to the bottom of everything in everything.
He seems to be there, but he seems to be gone
Scientists answer this question as follows: there is a gene responsible for alcoholism, but there is no gene that absolutely provides a person with a signature stamp "alcoholic" for the rest of his life. The genes associated with alcoholism are divided into two groups. The first group controls the process of ethyl alcohol oxidation, and the second determines human behavior. Variations in these genes affect a person's propensity for certain types of addiction.
What is alcoholism?
OnToday, alcoholism is classified as a hereditary disease. Scientists believe that heredity and environment account for 50% each.
When we talk about genetic inheritance, we understand that there are moments that are completely dependent on genetics. This may be the shape of the nose and the shape of the eyes, such things cannot be changed by sheer force of will, here it is necessary to carry out plastic surgery. Alcoholism is considered a variable sign, where parents are given 50% percent in order not to raise an alcoholic out of their child.
As if half of the responsibility in this matter lies with genetics, and the other half on how the parents raised the child. If a person became an alcoholic, then the alcoholism gene did its job, and the second part was supplemented by parents and a little society.
It's not that simple
If this theory were reliable and 100% justified, then the debate around this topic would have already stopped, and everything would fall into place. Biological and moral-ethical questions are closely intertwined in these studies. After all, it is much more difficult to study behavior than to disassemble biological material into molecules. It is not difficult to fix the disease: it is either there or it is not. But no one will undertake to diagnose a newborn that he is an alcoholic. And how to find out if he has a disposition for this? Even the children of alcoholics, to whom, logically, the alcoholism gene is inherited, do not have this disease. This means that the moment of choosing the person himself decides whether he will be an alcoholic or not. And if the decision is made by a person, is it possiblecall it a disease? This applies more to behavioral responses, and they are extremely difficult to study.
Relevance of the issue
Why has this question become so relevant that the bright heads of science are increasingly returning to it? The disappointing mortality statistics forced us to work on this topic more carefully. Is there a gene for alcoholism? Down syndrome is determined by a genomic pathology in chromosome 21, but there is no such unambiguity with alcoholism. At the same time, 30% of the deaths of men of working age occur directly from alcohol poisoning, or death occurs when a person behaved carelessly while intoxicated. If we classify alcoholism as a disease, then in this case the responsibility for all his actions is removed from the alcoholic. Well, what can you take from a sick person? Nevertheless, even the legislation is not on the side of such “sick people”, a crime while intoxicated is considered an aggravating circumstance, and not vice versa. If the alcoholism gene is inherited and a person has no power over himself, then such a judicial system is unfair to him.
Scientific research
Even without scientific experimentation, it has been observed that some individuals or nationalities get drunk faster and get addicted to alcohol faster. It was these observations that forced us to delve into the topic of whether there is a gene for alcoholism. Koreans, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese do not tolerate the effects of alcohol. When alcohol enters the bloodstream, a violent reaction begins in the body,heartbeat quickens, nausea and dizziness appear, sweating increases. With such a state of he alth, a person simply cannot drink much, his body resists and he simply cannot become an alcoholic. In their body, alcohol is converted into the toxic substance aldehyde after rapid oxidation. The presence of aldehyde in their blood will be 30 times greater than that of Europeans. Such features of the body protect them from alcoholism.
Some genes are responsible for converting alcohol into aldehyde, while others oxidize aldehyde, turning it into harmless substances. For residents of Southeast Asia, the first works quickly, and the second practically does not work. But again, this does not apply to absolutely every person of a certain nationality. When we talk about the alcoholism gene, we mean the genes that are responsible for the metabolic processes in the body.
Drug treatment for alcoholism
Due to the genetic characteristics of each individual, there is a possibility of rapid addiction and strong dependence in some people. They are unable to cope with this on their own. But the treatment takes place not only at the physiological level, a large percentage of the responsibility still lies with the will and decision of the person himself. In narcology, some types of treatment are based on the effect of delayed oxidation of aldehyde. The patient is injected with special drugs that block the oxidation process, the mechanism of alcohol intolerance is triggered. And if during this period the patient violates the period of sobriety, then hebecomes bad. Ethanol breaks down and releases toxins into the blood, and a person can simply die. It is worth noting that these procedures do not solve the problem completely. It only gives a person time to make a choice about how he is going to live.
Totem of genes and hormones
Scientists in Japan and the United States, as well as a number of other European countries, conducted large-scale studies on whether alcoholism genes are transmitted. They were able to identify a link between alcohol addiction and a specific KLB gene. In their research, they relied on the results of another study conducted a year earlier, which stated that the hormone FGF 21 also affects alcohol addiction. This hormone is produced by the liver and affects the eating habits of a person as a whole. Scientists examined the genomes of 100,000 people, finding out how often and how much they drink. As a result, it was found that the KLB gene and its mutations largely determined the strong craving for alcohol. This has been confirmed in laboratory studies. If the KLB gene was disabled in rodents, they were more likely to drink alcohol. To be more precise, this gene is a kind of protection against alcohol. But scientists refrain from making any statements, because in this matter the genetic component is not decisive. To answer the question of how alcoholism genes are transmitted, these genes must be absolutely accurately identified, and no one has identified them yet.
Gene is just one of many factors
There are many factors in becoming an alcoholic, and none of them will have power over a person unless they knowingly drink. He simply won’t allow himself to drink: for mood, for company, because everyone drinks so as not to stand out, etc. An alcoholic cannot become one who does not drink with or without reason. A person's habits and passions are born in childhood, when he sees that his parents in an atmosphere of fun and laughter raise glass after glass, give him a taste of beer and buy children's champagne for the holiday, saying with all their actions that there is nothing wrong with that.
Of course, if this child becomes an alcoholic, parents will say that this is not how they raised their child, they themselves are not alcoholics, they don’t even know how this could happen. But statistics show that more alcoholics come from families of drinking parents, in families of smoking parents there are more children who smoke, even if the parents themselves do not want to admit it. Not every parent is honest enough with himself to admit that he is the cause of his child's unhappiness.
The results are insignificant, but scientists hope that even with their help it will be possible to help addicts heal.
How to understand your gene pool?
You can talk about the latest scientific discoveries and how they change the fate of other people. But everyone, of course, is interested in first of all sorting out his own life. After thinking a little on this topic, you immediately ask yourself if you have a gene for alcoholism. howto determine its effect on your craving for alcohol, are you a candidate for alcoholics or not? There is no gaiety and banal interest in this issue, because we have all seen the victims of alcohol and not a single sane person would want to be in their place.
For those who are worried about their heredity, there are several options for the development of the situation: avoid drinking alcohol in any quantities, in this case you still do not lose anything, and your body will thank you. You can also test for the alcoholism gene. The geneticist will give you an opinion on the results of the research. You will receive lifestyle and nutrition advice. You can get advice on hereditary diseases, including monogenic ones. Monogenic diseases manifest in any case, which is often noticeable early in life. In other cases, the disease may never make itself felt, as in the case of alcoholism.
Drunkenness from generation to generation. Is that right?
The gene of alcoholism is not inherent in human nature. On the contrary, there are genes that work in such a way that a person does not fall into any addictions. There are a number of genes (there are about a dozen of them) that increase the desire to drink alcohol. All these genes have an extremely weak effect, none of them is decisive and a sentence for their carrier. Even if one person has several of these genes, they do not have enough of that “critical mass” to trigger the development of alcoholism. It depends on the person himself whether these natural risks will be realized by him. The family plays an important role here. Evennot the best set of genes can remain "in silence" if the child grows up in normal conditions.
How to choose a life partner with good genes?
If you think about procreation, then naturally you need to choose as partners those who have good genes. But even here it is not so simple. It was found that the protective gene can work equally in teetotalers and alcoholics. A number of alcoholics have been identified who feel very unwell after drinking. With all the worst manifestations and consequences, but they are addicted and cannot stop drinking. Among the teetotalers, there were few who had a protective gene, while they had no desire to surrender to alcohol and were extremely restrained in its use, or did not drink at all. Their genes were almost the same as those of alcoholics. So here you need to choose a partner not with good genes, but with a good upbringing.
Scientists keep hope
Despite the fact that the gene for alcoholism in its pure form has not been identified, scientists have found about 100 genes that are “guilty” of the fact that people become addicted to alcohol, and do not lose hope of using all these discoveries for the benefit of mankind. Who knows, maybe there are still unknown components in the duo of genes and hormones? The time will come when a person will not need to think - to drink or not to drink, at a certain moment the destructive mechanism will simply turn off, and life will start from scratch.
