Originally Posted by
dgillz 
Both the AMA and WHO recognize alcoholism as a disease. I don't know how much more strongly you can put it out there than that.
Maybe due to the fact that that's an erroneous assumption. Neither of them list "alcoholism" as anything at all, in fact, and haven't for quite a long time. They have both removed the existence of such from the DSM-IV and the ICD-10.
AMA, lists alcohol abuse and dependence, the WHO describe "alcohol-harmful use" and "alcohol dependence syndrome." Both are listed in such a way that they are seen as far, far more akin to a self-inflicted injury, than what most people refer to, when they refer to a disease.
It's only when people start looking at the actual physical problems which alcohol causes to the brain that there can be genuinely effective treatments, most likely GABA(b) Agonists, alongside Thiamine and other necessary supplements. Once the physical damage has been effectively addressed, the cause which was at the root of the alcohol abuse can be addressed. And there has been no definitive proof whatsoever to show genetic predisposition. As it currently stands every study that shows genetic predisposition is countered by another that shows psycho-social reasons.
As I've mentioned it may well be that there may well be a genetic reasons which mean the GABA(b) receptors in some people can sustain less pressure than others. But there is absolutely no such things whatsoever as someone who is genetically predestined to alcoholism.