Gene Link To Alcoholism

Gene Link to Alcoholism

A defective gene may be linked to alcoholism, researchers at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey said.

UPI reported April 12 that a study of 533 patients at the V.A. Medical Center in Lyons, N.J. found that alcoholics were 12 times more likely than a control group to have a defect in a gene for arylslfatase A, an enzyme in the nervous system. "I thnink this will be one of many genes that will be found to cause alcoholism or predispose people," said researcher Paul Manowitz.

Seven percent of all alcoholics may have the defective gene, he said. The fefect causes the enzyme to fade away too quickly in the cells, and low levels of this particular enzyme have been linked to other behavioral problems.