Genetic predispositions alcohol

Buck KJ, Metten P, Belknap JK et al (1997) Quantitative trait loci involved in genetic predisposition to acute alcohol withdrawal in mice. J Neurosci 17 3946-3955... 

Cluster headache disorders are the most uncommon and severe primary headache syndromes.9 The estimated point prevalence is less than 1%. Unlike migraine and TTH, cluster headaches occur more frequently in men. Onset commonly occurs prior to age 30.6 A genetic predisposition seems apparent, although affected individuals often provide a history of tobacco use and alcohol abuse.6 Attacks consist of debilitating, unilateral head pains that occur in series lasting up to months at a time, but that remit over months to years between occurrences. In rare instances, cluster headache can be a chronic disorder without remissions.4... 

Primary increases of VLDL also reflect a genetic predisposition and are worsened by factors that increase the rate of VLDL secretion from liver, ie, obesity, alcohol, diabetes, and estrogens. Treatment includes addressing these issues and the use of fibrates or niacin as needed. Marine omega-3 fatty acids are a valuable adjuvant. 

There is some evidence that addiction behaviors may be genetic in other words, some people who take prescription pain medication may become addicted because of an inherited tendency. However, genetic predisposition is likely to be only partially to blame. Environmental factors, underlying mental illness, and history of known addictions to alcohol or drugs are other factors that contribute to compulsive or addictive drug use. 

Alcoholism is an addiction and a disease that affects about 10 to 12 percent of the drinkers in the United States. Children of alcoholic parents have a greater chance of be coming addicted than others, because they may carry genetic predisposition for the disease. 

Several risk factors determine the toxic outcome of in utero alcohol exposure. Risk factors suggested include genetic predisposition, marital status, smoking, use of prescribed or over-the-counter drugs and medications, concomitant usage of other drugs of abuse, occupational or environmental exposure to chemicals, socioeconomic status, and adequate nutrition. 

The prepathogenic period is characterized by the presence of factors that favor or determine the development of the disease. These factors may be environmental (infectious, physical, chemical agents, etc.) and behavioral (overconsumption of fats or carbohydrates, sedentary lifestyle, smoking, excess consumption of alcohol, use of illegal substances, etc.), and they affect the endogenous genetic predisposition toward developing the disease. 

We also demonstrated in this study that FAEE synthase activity could be induced nearly twofold in the WBC fraction of humans ingesting 2 oz of scotch whiskey for 6 d (Gorski. 1996). This supports the conclusion that FAEE synthase is regulated to some extent by the presence of ethanol. Ihe enzyme activity returned to baseline levels despite ingestion of 2 oz of scotch whiskey for an additional 3 d. In this report, it was also shown that alcoholic individuals have approximately half the WBC FAEE synthase activity detected in normal controls. The lower enzyme activity observed in the WBCs of alcoholics in a detoxification center may be the result of years of ethanol abuse, or it may be that alcoholics congenitally have low levels of FAEE synthase. If the latter is true, this finding may explain, in part, the genetic predisposition of many alcoholic individuals to ethanol abuse. 

Hrubec Z Omenn GS (1981) Evidence of genetic predisposition to alcoholic cirrhosis and psychosis twin concordances for alcoholism and its biological end points by zygosity among male veterans. Alcohol Clin Exp Res, 5 207-215. 

Reed T, Page WF, Viken RJ, Christian JC (1996) Genetic predisposition to organ-specific endpoints of alcoholism. Alcohol Clin Exp Res, 20 1528-1533. 

For reasons that are not yet fully understood, some people seem to develop addictions to street drugs, cigarettes or alcohol more easily than others. There is some evidence that some of this predisposition may be genetically inherited. For instance, the offspring of alcoholics are more likely to become alcoholics themselves, even when not exposed to the social influence of their alcoholic parents. 

Genetic factors. As discussed below, inherited predisposition to alcoholism has been clearly established. 

Clinical manifestations of thiamine deficiency develop in only a small fraction of alcoholics and other chronically malnourished people. Do some patients have an inborn predisposition to developing neurologic disease with thiamine deficiency Four alcoholics with the disease were shown to have a cellular defect in the enzyme transketolase (Blass and Gibson, 1977). The defective enzyme bound thiamine pyrophosphate with only 5-10% of the normal avidity. Presumably, this represents a genetically determined structural mutation in transketolase. When diet is adequate, the genetic abnormality would be clinically silent, but with the stress of marginal thiamine intake, affected individuals would more readily develop disease. 

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