Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Danzig
i do have a question or two about alcoholism. i personally never considered it as a disease...but i concede i could be wrong about that.
at any rate, both my parents are very heavy drinkers. i have referred to them in conversations as alcoholics. my mothers father, and some of her brothers were/are as well-and some of their children. but i'm not an alcoholic, neither are my two sisters and brother--but my brother did get hooked on internet gaming. i've told my kids they are pre-disposed to having an addictive personality, since tonys parents also drink like fish.. thankfully so far, so good.
is it like other diseases, can be carried, but not necessarily passed on? or does it require more than just the genes?
tony and i did both smoke, but we both quit cold turkey.
|
This is basically an old genetics theme called penetrance. 100% penetrance means a certain gene will determine some physical/biochemical characteristics for example eye color. If you have the two recessive genes for eye color you will have blue eyes. Now you might put brown colored contacts on... but your eyes are blue.
Most genes do not have 100% penetrance, its somewhere in between. However it is very clear, just like cancer, some people have a GENETIC predisposition to alcholism. Now if they stay away from the stuff, they never become an alcholic. Others have a much lower likelyhood of becoming an alcoholic, but they clearly can if they drink enough.
It is the same way with many mental disorders. Some have a very high penetrance and some require the right environmental conditions to make the disease manifest itself. But make no mistake, depressed people, schizo, have VERY diff. brain chemistry than normal happy folks. Very diff. But because it is not obviously seen (like a missing arm) then people assume it does not exist. But from a biochemical point of view these mental disorders clearly exist.