Alcoholism and Family History

Stephanie: My father was an alcoholic and his dad was an alcoholic and because of that I'm afraid to even touch the stuff. Is there any proof that alcoholism is genetic?

Trey Causey: This is a concerned shared by many children about alcoholics. Research by the National Institute of Drug Abuse does indeed go into the fact that 40 to 60% have the risk of the drug or alcohol problem is probably genetic. Having said that, that also means half of the risk is non-genetic and due to environmental factors. So certainly the children of alcoholics are at a greater risk, but it's not necessarily a foregone conclusion that they'll develop an alcohol problem.



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