When a loved one seems to be struggling under an alcohol use disorder, their family and friends often have difficulty determining whether there is an actual problem that requires addressing. There are often many factors that play into the minds of people watching someone who may have an alcohol problem.
There have been many variables considered when determining whether a person may be struggling with alcohol, and one variable is the person’s genetic makeup. Naturally, a person with ancestors who have had alcohol use disorder may be more carefully watching for an alcohol problem.
A recent study at Virginia Commonwealth University examined the measures used to determine genetic risk for alcohol dependence. They identified four relatively simple measures of drinking behavior. The four measures have the potential to make the process for identifying genetic risk easy and fast.
Kenneth S. Kendler, M.D., is the director for the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics and a professor of human and molecular genetics at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. Kendler led the team that established the four simple steps to determining genetic risk for alcohol use disorder.
The lifetime history of alcohol-dependence was examined for 5,073 twins. The twins were same-sex adults who were recruited from the Virginia Twin Registry. They were examined against four measures of alcohol consumption at the time of heaviest drinking.
The four measures that were used were drinking frequency, regular quantity, maximum quantity and drunk frequency. The researchers used Dianostic and Statistical Manual-Fourth Edition criteria.
The researchers found that the four measures were accurate in assessing the genetic risk for alcohol dependence. The four measures were especially accurate in women who participated in the study. A large proportion of men were also accurately assessed using the measures.
The study was first published online in the Early View issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimentall Research. It will also appear in the June 2010 print issue of the same publication.
The research performed in the study indicates that assessing risk for those who may be struggling with alcohol may become easier using the four measures. It may become simpler to identify those who are predisposed for alcohol use disorder and target them for intervention and education.
As researchers learn more about the risk factors for alcohol use disorder, it will become easier for those at risk to receive treatment and education before the problem has put down permanent roots.
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