Big drinkers can alter DNA, fuel addiction
Administrator
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,442
Big drinkers can alter DNA, fuel addiction
from SBS Australia:
Heavy drinking can alter DNA in ways that increase the desire for alcohol, new research suggests.
The findings may help explain why alcohol addiction is so powerful and hard to resist, say scientists.
The US team looked at two genes that play a role in the control of drinking behaviour.
One is PER2, which influences the body's biological clock, and the other POMC, which regulates stress responses.
The scientists then checked the DNA of groups of moderate and heavy drinkers, as well as binge drinkers.
They discovered that the two genes had undergone "epigenetic" changes in both heavy and binge drinkers, but not moderate drinkers.
Rutgers University senior researcher Professor Dipak Sarkar said the DNA changes could lead to more cravings in heavy drinkers.
"We found that people who drink heavily may be changing their DNA in a way that makes them crave alcohol even more," he said.
"This may help explain why alcoholism is such a powerful addiction, and may one day contribute to new ways to treat alcoholism or help prevent at-risk people from becoming addicted."
The findings, published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, were backed by experiments involving real life responses to alcohol.
Participants were shown an array of neutral, stress-related or alcohol-related images as well as containers of beer, which they were invited to taste.
Their motivation to drink was then evaluated.
The results suggested that the genetic changes observed earlier caused binge and heavy drinkers to be more drawn to alcohol.
In the background to their research, the scientists cited a World Health Organisation report which said that in 2016 more than three million people died as a result of alcohol abuse.
More than three-quarters of these alcohol-related deaths were among men.
SOURCE AAP
The findings may help explain why alcohol addiction is so powerful and hard to resist, say scientists.
The US team looked at two genes that play a role in the control of drinking behaviour.
One is PER2, which influences the body's biological clock, and the other POMC, which regulates stress responses.
The scientists then checked the DNA of groups of moderate and heavy drinkers, as well as binge drinkers.
They discovered that the two genes had undergone "epigenetic" changes in both heavy and binge drinkers, but not moderate drinkers.
Rutgers University senior researcher Professor Dipak Sarkar said the DNA changes could lead to more cravings in heavy drinkers.
"We found that people who drink heavily may be changing their DNA in a way that makes them crave alcohol even more," he said.
"This may help explain why alcoholism is such a powerful addiction, and may one day contribute to new ways to treat alcoholism or help prevent at-risk people from becoming addicted."
The findings, published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, were backed by experiments involving real life responses to alcohol.
Participants were shown an array of neutral, stress-related or alcohol-related images as well as containers of beer, which they were invited to taste.
Their motivation to drink was then evaluated.
The results suggested that the genetic changes observed earlier caused binge and heavy drinkers to be more drawn to alcohol.
In the background to their research, the scientists cited a World Health Organisation report which said that in 2016 more than three million people died as a result of alcohol abuse.
More than three-quarters of these alcohol-related deaths were among men.
SOURCE AAP
Member
Join Date: Jan 2019
Posts: 985
Thanks for posting. It makes a lot of sense. It's also a good reason not to overly self-blame for taking in a substance that is obviously chemically addictive for millions of people. We don't have to drink. Without alcohol in our system, we do not have to be defined by its neuropathy.
Member
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Arizona
Posts: 107
Makes perfect sense. II always believed alcoholism had genetic predisposition at it's roots, but I always suspected that if a person consumed enough alcohol on a continual basis that that person would become an alcoholic. It's hard to argue with scientific proof.
Member
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Where I’ve longed to be all my life…..here, now.
Posts: 7,338
Thanks Dee!
Nice article—
Good reminder about how We actually change our minds and our bodies with our bad choices and subsequent addictions. From yellow skin to gastric reflux, to brittle hair to broken capillaries to actually changing our DNA.
Lots of motivation to get and keep sober.
Nice article—
Good reminder about how We actually change our minds and our bodies with our bad choices and subsequent addictions. From yellow skin to gastric reflux, to brittle hair to broken capillaries to actually changing our DNA.
Lots of motivation to get and keep sober.
Guest
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 8,674
Thanks Dee- it's always interesting to me to read articles published in other countries. I forget the US source, but just this week my husband and I saw an article on the same, published here.
As we were talking about it, I thought "duh. putting so much ethanol in my body over a long time was going to change everything about me." It seems so obvious from the sober side
As we were talking about it, I thought "duh. putting so much ethanol in my body over a long time was going to change everything about me." It seems so obvious from the sober side
Do your best
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 67,047
Member
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: UK
Posts: 1,543
Originally Posted by Stellar45 
Makes perfect sense. II always believed alcoholism had genetic predisposition at it's roots
This supports the theory that I have had for years, which is that alcoholics are made and not born.. Socio-economic factors (including family) affect our initial behaviour but alcoholism is not a disease. It is an addiction and a condition.
If I’m right this is good news. We are not damned. It was never ‘always going to be’. We had a choice at the beginning and we have a choice right now.
Interesting article Dee. Thanks.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2018
Posts: 524
Originally Posted by JustTony
I don’t think that’s what it is saying (well not in that snippet anyway). We all (as in all people) have the DNA that the article mentions - it’s just that heavy drinking fundementally changes that DNA to make heavy drinkers more likely to crave alcohol again and again at a fundamental genetic level going forwards.
This supports the theory that I have had for years, which is that alcoholics are made and not born.. Socio-economic factors (including family) affect our initial behaviour but alcoholism is not a disease. It is an addiction and a condition.
If I’m right this is good news. We are not damned. It was never ‘always going to be’. We had a choice at the beginning and we have a choice right now.
Interesting article Dee. Thanks.
This supports the theory that I have had for years, which is that alcoholics are made and not born.. Socio-economic factors (including family) affect our initial behaviour but alcoholism is not a disease. It is an addiction and a condition.
If I’m right this is good news. We are not damned. It was never ‘always going to be’. We had a choice at the beginning and we have a choice right now.
Interesting article Dee. Thanks.
With alcoholism, you simply do not drink, and you can live a long and healthy life. It's an addiction. If you continue to drink large amounts of what is in effect poison, eventually it kills you. The underlying cause about why someone drinks needs to be rectified for recovery, but there is no treatment or cure for alcohol consumption. Whether it's mental illness, low self esteem, etc etc drinking is a symptom and response to other issues.
I think in my case, I certainly wasn't addicted to alcohol from the start. I drank alcohol like most normal youngters, on the weekends, in pubs with friends, we used to go out and get plastered every weekend. I had a low tolerance, so often went home early as I was so drunk.
My problems arose when the hangovers used to generate anxiety that became harder and harder to deal with. To quell the anxiety, I discovered that having another drink the next day made me feel better. I continued that pattern of behavior, every time I drank. I used drinking as a coping mechanism for anxiety. As I repeated this behaviour again and again, I hard wired my brain that alcohol was a medication for my anxiety and stress. When I felt anxious, I drank. I came to rely on it more and more, which of course made it worse as I consumed more and more alcohol and I became almost dependent on it at certain times. I'm fairly certain my lifestyle of drinking on my hangovers, pretyt much burned in some neurological and behavioral pathways in my brain that meant that I reached out for booze intrinsically, when I had anxiety from the previous nights drinking. Over time this became my default behaviour.
I am absolutely convinced that if I wasn't so sensitive to anxiety, (my grandad and mum both suffered anxiety in different forms) I wouldn't have become dependent on drink. For me, when I have a hangover, I cannot function, I experience ridiculous levels of anxiety. My friends never seemed to get the same levels of anxiety post drinking. I believe I am hyper sensitive to anxiety, and alcohol when it leaves my system after a heavy night of drinking, raises your anxiety levels. Yet because I am already sensitive to anxiety, alcohol causes it to pass a level I cannot cope with, so I drink again.
Anyway, that's my own analysis of my own situation.
Member
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 1,246
Originally Posted by Primativo
Agreed. I find it hard when people call alcoholism a disease. I don't think that is fair on people with true diseases like cancer, from which you either get treatment or die.
With alcoholism, you simply do not drink, and you can live a long and healthy life. It's an addiction. If you continue to drink large amounts of what is in effect poison, eventually it kills you. The underlying cause about why someone drinks needs to be rectified for recovery, but there is no treatment or cure for alcohol consumption. Whether it's mental illness, low self esteem, etc etc drinking is a symptom and response to other issues.
I think in my case, I certainly wasn't addicted to alcohol from the start. I drank alcohol like most normal youngters, on the weekends, in pubs with friends, we used to go out and get plastered every weekend. I had a low tolerance, so often went home early as I was so drunk.
My problems arose when the hangovers used to generate anxiety that became harder and harder to deal with. To quell the anxiety, I discovered that having another drink the next day made me feel better. I continued that pattern of behavior, every time I drank. I used drinking as a coping mechanism for anxiety. As I repeated this behaviour again and again, I hard wired my brain that alcohol was a medication for my anxiety and stress. When I felt anxious, I drank. I came to rely on it more and more, which of course made it worse as I consumed more and more alcohol and I became almost dependent on it at certain times. I'm fairly certain my lifestyle of drinking on my hangovers, pretyt much burned in some neurological and behavioral pathways in my brain that meant that I reached out for booze intrinsically, when I had anxiety from the previous nights drinking. Over time this became my default behaviour.
I am absolutely convinced that if I wasn't so sensitive to anxiety, (my grandad and mum both suffered anxiety in different forms) I wouldn't have become dependent on drink. For me, when I have a hangover, I cannot function, I experience ridiculous levels of anxiety. My friends never seemed to get the same levels of anxiety post drinking. I believe I am hyper sensitive to anxiety, and alcohol when it leaves my system after a heavy night of drinking, raises your anxiety levels. Yet because I am already sensitive to anxiety, alcohol causes it to pass a level I cannot cope with, so I drink again.
Anyway, that's my own analysis of my own situation.
With alcoholism, you simply do not drink, and you can live a long and healthy life. It's an addiction. If you continue to drink large amounts of what is in effect poison, eventually it kills you. The underlying cause about why someone drinks needs to be rectified for recovery, but there is no treatment or cure for alcohol consumption. Whether it's mental illness, low self esteem, etc etc drinking is a symptom and response to other issues.
I think in my case, I certainly wasn't addicted to alcohol from the start. I drank alcohol like most normal youngters, on the weekends, in pubs with friends, we used to go out and get plastered every weekend. I had a low tolerance, so often went home early as I was so drunk.
My problems arose when the hangovers used to generate anxiety that became harder and harder to deal with. To quell the anxiety, I discovered that having another drink the next day made me feel better. I continued that pattern of behavior, every time I drank. I used drinking as a coping mechanism for anxiety. As I repeated this behaviour again and again, I hard wired my brain that alcohol was a medication for my anxiety and stress. When I felt anxious, I drank. I came to rely on it more and more, which of course made it worse as I consumed more and more alcohol and I became almost dependent on it at certain times. I'm fairly certain my lifestyle of drinking on my hangovers, pretyt much burned in some neurological and behavioral pathways in my brain that meant that I reached out for booze intrinsically, when I had anxiety from the previous nights drinking. Over time this became my default behaviour.
I am absolutely convinced that if I wasn't so sensitive to anxiety, (my grandad and mum both suffered anxiety in different forms) I wouldn't have become dependent on drink. For me, when I have a hangover, I cannot function, I experience ridiculous levels of anxiety. My friends never seemed to get the same levels of anxiety post drinking. I believe I am hyper sensitive to anxiety, and alcohol when it leaves my system after a heavy night of drinking, raises your anxiety levels. Yet because I am already sensitive to anxiety, alcohol causes it to pass a level I cannot cope with, so I drink again.
Anyway, that's my own analysis of my own situation.
That is exactly my experience too. Thank you for articulating it so clearly.
Member
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Right here, right now
Posts: 3,974
Originally Posted by Soberwolf
Reminds me of that saying “alcoholics are like pickles. Once we become pickles, we can’t go back to being cucumbers.”
Member
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: US
Posts: 5,095
I probably missed it but are the PER2 and POMC genes exactly the same in all humans? I mean, I guess I'm looking for the control. If they took alcoholics and moderate drinkers, then compared them, how do they know 'when' the changes in the genes took place? Were they born different or did the drinking change them? If in all humans these genes are completely identical at birth then the assumption that the alcohol changes these genes makes sense. But if they aren't, how do they know they aren't 'different' at birth....nature or nurture? Genotype or phenotype?
Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 25,373
Originally Posted by Frickaflip233
I probably missed it but are the PER2 and POMC genes exactly the same in all humans? I mean, I guess I'm looking for the control. If they took alcoholics and moderate drinkers, then compared them, how do they know 'when' the changes in the genes took place? Were they born different or did the drinking change them? If in all humans these genes are completely identical at birth then the assumption that the alcohol changes these genes makes sense. But if they aren't, how do they know they aren't 'different' at birth....nature or nurture? Genotype or phenotype?
Much more going on here. Thanks for saying succinctly what I would have taken 2000 words to say because nuance.
And what happens to these alleged changes with prolonged sobriety? There are many more questions than answers here.
saoutchik
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: London
Posts: 16,203
I suppose when we blithely talk of the "progressive" nature of alcoholism (and probably other addictions too) this is one of the actual underlying explanations for that progression. It reminds me of the Higgs Bosun in as much as it was not a surprise when it was first observed as it had long been predicted but good to confirm nonetheless.
Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
