Stress in early life increases risk of alcohol addiction, study reveals

Categories

Addiction Treatment
Alcohol
Drugs
Gambling
In the papers
On TV

News Archive

Home » News » Alcohol » Stress in early life increases risk of alcohol addiction, study reveals

by Change | 4 Feb 2010

Bookmark

E-mail

Experiencing stress in early life may lead to a need for alcohol addiction help in adulthood.

Individuals exposed to severe stress at an early age are more likely to require alcohol or drug addiction support later in life.

This is according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine, whose findings could lead to the development of new alcohol addiction therapies based on a patient's genetic makeup and their history of stress exposure.

"There are many different ways an individual can become alcoholic, some involving heavy genetic risks, some involving specific environmental factors such as exposure to peers who drink heavily," explained study lead author Dr Elliot Nelson.

It is understood that a person's risk of alcoholism is half decided by the way in which their genes are encoded. Environmental factors that occur in during important brain development stages also have a notable effect, scientists say.

Over 1,100 people were involved in the study, all of whom had taken part in Australia's Nicotine Addiction Genetics project. This was initially designed to focus on addiction to nicotine, but researchers later shifted their focus to related issues such as the reasons behind alcohol dependence.

Separate findings from the University of Sao Paulo suggested that older people who drink heavily are at an increased risk of memory and cognitive problems.

Bookmark this: