All are affected by at least one mental illness, but many have multiple disorders, including depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, along with alcohol or drug dependence. The study followed 1,263 European Americans and controlled for factors such as age, sex, and genetics. Researchers concluded that among their sample population, those with light eyes (defined as blue, green, and grey) were more likely to exhibit signs of alcohol dependency than their dark-eyed counterparts. Moreover, among the light-eyed, subjects with blue eyes had the highest rate of alcohol dependency. Neither Sulovari or lead author Dawei Li, professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at the University of Vermont, said they think there will be one genetic silver bullet to stop alcoholism.
If dark eyes are positively related to physiological sensitivity this might be seen in a greater response to various drugs including alcohol. A greater or earlier response to alcohol might serve to decrease the amount of alcohol consumed by the steady drinker since a smaller amount would result in an equivalent effect. For that reason, persons who are most sensitive to alcohol would, perhaps, be less likely to drink enough to become physiologically addicted.
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- The study, published this week, examined genetic samples from 1,263 people with alcohol dependency and found that those with lighter eyes, especially blue eyes, appeared to develop alcoholism at a higher rate.
- Whether you have blue eyes, green eyes, brown eyes, or any eye color in between, getting comprehensive treatment for alcohol addiction is the best way to start on the path to recovery.
- So the parts of the world where descendants of that founder individual are most common have the highest frequency of blue eyes; where those descendants are rare, darker eye colors are the dominant eye color.
- Critiques of this connection primarily emphasize the dangers of mistaking correlation for causation.
- Experts also point out that the genetic determinants of eye color are complex and not fully understood, and any genetic overlap with alcoholism-related genes is yet to be substantiated.
- Plus, when we’re talking about a complex issue such as AUD, there are many additional factors at play.
Researchers are finally starting to suss out which genes are connected to which diseases, but it’s not an easy task. The handful of genes that have been connected with alcoholism over the past 20 years “can only explain a small percentage of the genetics part that has been suggested,” says study author Dawei Li in a press release. “A large number is still missing, is still unknown.” Several genes determine a person’s eye color, and there’s a very remote chance that one of them is in some way tied to alcoholism, too.
Sickle cell disease patients inherited a particular form, or “allele” of the beta hemoglobin gene that causes their red blood cells to solution based treatment and detox sickle under low oxygen tension.
Li notes that any investigation will need to careful evaluate the many environmental factors contributing to alcoholism. Li and Sulovari found that people with light-colored eyes–or eyes that are blue, grey, or green–were most likely to become alcohol-dependent at some point in their lifetimes when compared to people with dark brown eyes. Research from the University of Vermont suggests that there may be a link between those who have blue eyes and alcoholism. Almost every disease we know of has a genetic component, and alcoholism is no exception.
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After reading these studies and looking at your own blue eyes in the mirror — or into the blue eyes of someone you care about — it can be easy to panic. In the case of eye color, the protein in question is located on the OCA2 gene, which codes for a protein that controls the production of melanin — a pigment responsible for dark eye color. But if they can confirm the link, the big challenge will be working out whether it’s caused by genetics, environmental factors, or a mix of the two. Another hurdle in genetics is the limitation of studying genes that are only active in specific tissues, such as the nervous system, which hinders the understanding of certain gene variants’ effects on diseases. Innovations like CRISPR technology are beginning to overcome these roadblocks, allowing genes to be activated in more accessible cells like skin or blood.
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But knowing more about the genetics involved could mean that someday doctors might be able to identify from specific genes which people are most at risk for certain disorders, including alcoholism, by looking at their eye color or hair color. In the study, researchers looked at 1,263 Americans of European ancestry, including 992 people who were diagnosed with alcohol dependence and 271 people who were not diagnosed with alcohol dependence. They found that the rate of alcohol dependence was 54 percent higher among people with light-colored eyes — including blue, green, gray and light-brown eyes — than among those with dark-brown eyes. There is no official link between the genes involved in eye color and those responsible for the glitches in alcohol metabolism. European Americans with blue eyes have an increased rate of alcohol dependence, compared with those with dark brown eyes, a new study suggests. Experts also point out that the genetic determinants of eye color are complex and not fully understood, and any genetic overlap with alcoholism-related genes is yet to be substantiated.
More than Meets the Eye: Eye Color and Alcoholism
Here, I discuss the basis for light eye color and the evidence for a genetic contribution to risk for alcohol dependency. The study revealed the genetic components that determine eye color and demonstrates that they match the same chromosome as the genes involved in excessive alcohol consumption. Speaking of the conditions, Li – an expert in microbiology and molecular genetics – explained that they were “complex disorders” and that “many genes” and “environmental triggers” were involved. But for the majority of illnesses, our genes only give us a predisposition towards diseases, affected by environmental factors. And for a disease like alcoholism, there are a huge number of non-genetic factors that can influence how and why people drink, such as social or cultural attitudes, income level, upbringing, and stress.
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