Why do some people become addicted, while others do not?
Studies of identical twins indicate that as much as half of an individual’s risk of developing addiction to nicotine, alcohol, or other drugs depends on his or her genes. Pinning down the biological basis for the risk of addiction is an important avenue of research for scientists trying to solve the problem of drug abuse.
Genes, the functional units that make up our DNA, provide the information that directs our bodies’ basic cellular activities. Research on the human genome has shown that the DNA sequences of any two individuals are 99.9% identical. However, that 0.1% variation is profoundly important, contributing to visible differences, like height and hair color, and to invisible differences, such as increased risks for, or protection from, heart attack, stroke,diabetes, and addiction.
Some diseases, like sickle cell anemia or cystic fibrosis, are caused by an error in a single gene. Medical research has been strikingly successful at unraveling the mechanisms of these single-gene disorders. However, most diseases, including addiction, are more complicated: variations in many different genes contribute to an individual’s overall level of risk or resistance.
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1 response so far ↓
1 Leeuh // Jul 10, 2008 at
I have to disagree. (sorry) While I do believe that genetics have something to do with it, it is ultimately the person's choice to drink or abuse substances. I had a substance abuse problem. I didn't have it because it was passed down in my family. (I'm the only one in my family who has ever done illegal drugs actually) My father was an alcoholic. I made the decision not to drink, and turn out like he did. To this day, I've never had a drink. (I'm almost 30) I don't drink because of what I saw in him. As for the substance abuse problem I had? Well, I was a kid and no one ever told me that it could turn into a problem. But- at the end of the day it was my choice to do the drugs or not to.
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