Alcohol consumption study shows genes influence

A study of Australian twins has shown that genes influence both alcohol consumption and alcohol dependence. A team at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney looked at three studies of Australian twins to try to find what influence genes have on alcohol...

A study of Australian twins has shown that genes influence both alcohol consumption and alcohol dependence. A team at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney looked at three studies of Australian twins to try to find what influence genes have on alcohol consumption and dependence.

The studies revealed that variation between people in their long-term alcohol intake is almost entirely due to genetic differences between them. Higher intake was clearly linked with a higher probability of alcohol dependence, a link which was mainly due to genetic effects.

Although the same genes might affect both intake and dependence, there could be still more genes involved purely in alcohol dependence. The study is published in the August 2004 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

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