Does alcoholism run in families?

Almost all the boys in my friends’ family are drunkards. Somebody told me that the problem is a genetic one. I want to know if it is true that alcoholism runs in families.

Ifeoluwa (by SMS)

Yes. Although motives for drinking alcohol — such as coping with negative emotions or fitting in with peers — can influence not only how much a person drinks, but also increase their risk of developing problematic drinking. While a person’s drinking motives can vary depending on the situation, a new study also suggests that there may be a genetic basis to drinking motives that links them to alcohol consumption and Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). AUD is a condition in which a person has a hard time stopping or controlling their use of alcohol in spite of the harmful effects it has on their health, relationships or job. Earlier research found that genetic factors are responsible for about 50% of a person’s risk of developing AUD. However, the relationship between genes and problematic drinking is complex, with thousands of genetic variants involved, “each with very small effects,” wrote the authors of the new study.

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