People with blue eyes may be more likely to become alcoholics than dark-eyed individuals, a new study suggests. Alcohol use disorder is influenced by various factors, including genetic predisposition and environmental influences. While there is growing interest in the connection between genes and alcoholism, it’s important to note that this research is still in its early stages. Future research should examine the genetic basis of this connection and the role of other confounding factors that may contribute to alcoholism risk. Study co-author Dawei Li, an assistant professor of microbiology and molecular genetics, has worked with other scientists for years to build a genetic database of more than 10,000 people.
Epidemiological Evidence for a Link Between Eye Color and Alcoholism
Research into these mechanisms may eventually contribute to the development of more targeted treatment and prevention strategies, considering the multifaceted nature of genetic and environmental influences on health. Over the long term, alcohol abuse can lead to physical illnesses that affect the liver, such as alcoholic hepatitis and cirrhosis. Research also shows a connection between heavy alcohol use and heart disease, respiratory disease, ketamine effects of ketamine and cancer. Other signs of alcohol use disorder are related to drinking frequency, habits, and its impact on relationships, which we’ll explore below. Unhealthy alcohol use includes any alcohol use that puts your health or safety at risk or causes other alcohol-related problems. It also includes binge drinking — a pattern of drinking where a male has five or more drinks within two hours or a female has at least four drinks within two hours.
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«This suggests an intriguing possibility – that eye colour can be useful in the clinic for alcohol dependence diagnosis,» one of the lead researchers, Arivis Sulovari, said in a press release. Many have more than one, including depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, along with alcohol or drug dependence. The genetic components that determine eye color line up along the same chromosome as the genes related to excessive alcohol use, the researchers found. The researchers say the findings could help scientists learn more about the roots of alcoholism, HealthDay reports.
The Correlation Between Blue Eyes and Alcoholism
Alcohol use disorder is a pattern of alcohol use that involves problems controlling your drinking, being preoccupied with alcohol or continuing to use alcohol even when it causes problems. This disorder also involves having to drink more to get the same effect or having withdrawal symptoms when you rapidly decrease or stop drinking. According to Dr. Li, all of the genes identified in the past 20 years can explain only a small percentage of the genetics part that has been suggested, but a lot are missing. He has submitted a grant application to pursue those missing genes and is working on another proposal for funding to continue that pursuit using the large database of patient samples. Dr. Li wants to delve deeper into the relationship between cultural background and genetic makeup to find the mechanisms of mental illness.
The search for mechanisms to explain phenomena, such as a correlation between physical traits like eye color and behavioral patterns like alcohol consumption, has been a long-standing objective in biology. The Our World in Data reports that globally, alcohol consumption leads to 2.8 million premature deaths annually. Binge drinking is a particular concern, defined as consuming five or more drinks for males or four or more for females within about two hours, according to the NIH. Some people might use it to cope with a difficult situation, such as a mental or medical illness. Alcohol dependence can also develop from low self-esteem or a desire to be socially accepted.
Genetics of Alcohol Dependency
People with light-colored eyes may have a higher risk of alcoholism than people with dark-brown eyes, new research suggests. A Georgia State University study in 2000 also found that people with blue eyes drank more than individuals with other eye colours, but the researchers will need a lot more to go on. The data used in the research were taken from a database filled with the genetic profiles of patients with at least one psychiatric illness, such as depression, schizophrenia, or drug or alcohol dependence. From this set, the researchers focussed only on 1,263 individuals with a European background who had been diagnosed with alcoholism.
Genetic variations, including single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), play a crucial role in these pigment processes. More research is needed to understand the association between light-colored eyes and a greater incidence of alcoholism, the scientists said. From that database, the study’s authors filtered out 1,263 alcohol-dependent people and retested three times after noticing the connection to eye colour.
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. In this field study carried out in a French barroom, we hypothesized that the average blood alcohol concentration of participants with blue eyes would be higher than people with other eye color. We measured blood alcohol concentration with a breathanalyzer among 61 customers from various occupational backgrounds, and calculated the association between eye color and BAC. Results showed that among males and females, irrespective of age, participants with blue eyes had a higher BAC than the others …
- People with light-colored eyes may have a higher risk of alcoholism than people with dark-brown eyes, new research suggests.
- It often affects a person’s health, relationships, and work, yet they continue drinking heavily despite these negative impacts.
- However, environmental factors also significantly contribute to the development of AUD when a family history of alcohol misuse is present.
- An essential aspect of biological mechanisms is their role in maintaining organisms far from equilibrium with their environments.
- While the association between blue eyes and alcoholism has sparked interest, it is critical to approach this research with caution.
- It encompasses a range of behaviors from mild to severe and can develop into a significant health risk if left untreated.
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. An alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a medical condition characterized by an impaired ability to stop or control alcohol use despite adverse social, occupational, or health consequences. It encompasses a range of behaviors from mild to severe and can develop into a significant health risk if left untreated.
Many individuals who are part of the database have been diagnosed with multiple diseases, including depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder, along with addiction and alcohol or drug dependence. As it turns out, the genes that determine eye color are located on the same chromosome as those that control alcohol dependence. And as scientists found in this most recent study, there is a “statistically significant” interaction (defined as an affect of one gene on the behavior of another) between the eye color and alcoholism genes. Genetic research is fraught with complexities that challenge the validity of studies exploring connections like those between eye color and alcoholism. One such challenge is participation bias, a significant obstacle that skews results based on who chooses to participate in genetic studies. A recent development in statistics promises to mitigate this issue, providing researchers with tools to better manage and understand biases inherent in genetic research.
Moreover, understanding the genetic basis of alcoholism can lead to the development of novel pharmacological treatments that address the specific biological pathways involved. Statistically, individuals with blue eyes constitute approximately 8% of the global population. Understanding the genetics of eye color is not only a matter of curiosity but has practical implications in the fields of genetics, ophthalmology, and even evolutionary studies. For instance, the inheritance pattern of eye color can help explain dominant and recessive traits and how they are passed down through generations. This is by no means the first time that eye color and alcoholism have been closely linked. In 2000, a study found that dark-eyed female subjects averaged 4.91 drinks in the previous month, while blue-eyed subjects averaged nearly an entire drink more at 5.78 alcoholic beverages.
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The consensus among critics is that the potential biological mechanisms underlying the observed correlation require thorough investigation before they can inform clinical diagnoses or treatment approaches. In general, people who are at risk of or who have alcohol use disorder drink alcohol regularly and experience cravings when they don’t. They often spend time and money trying treatment and recovery national institute on drug abuse nida to obtain alcohol and continue to drink despite experiencing adverse health effects. There is usually a transition that occurs at some point from choosing to drink alcohol to drinking compulsively. If you feel that you sometimes drink too much alcohol, or your drinking is causing problems, or if your family is concerned about your drinking, talk with your health care provider.
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. Why might having blue eyes put one at higher risk for alcohol dependency than having brown eyes? One possible explanation is that a gene lying near the OCA2 gene on [human] chromosome 15 carries a mutation that leads to increased alcohol tolerance, and thus a tendency to drink too much. Another angle explored is the genetic relationship between mood instability and alcohol-related phenotypes. This polygenic overlap is more pronounced for alcohol consumption (AC) than for alcohol use disorder (AUD), indicating a complex interplay between genetic factors and the manifestation of alcohol-related issues.
However, these probabilities are only estimates, as the actual outcome is influenced by the intricate genetic dynamics at play. Genes related to eye color influence the production and distribution of pigments like melanin, eumelanin, and pheomelanin in the iris. Blue eyes occur when there is a lower concentration of melanin within the iris, allowing the collagen and stroma of the iris to scatter light, which gives the appearance of blue.
The research outlines the need for further exploration into whether environmental factors, including upbringing and cultural influences, can moderate the relationship between eye color and alcoholism. This could help distinguish between what is truly a genetic predisposition and what may be an environmentally induced pattern of behavior. Recent research has sparked intriguing discussions regarding a potential correlation between blue eye color and an increased risk for alcoholism. A study led by the University of Vermont, published in the American Journal of Medical Genetics, found that individuals with blue eyes showed higher rates of alcohol dependence compared to those with darker eyes.
They will likely experience deteriorating relationships with family and friends and might have difficulty at work. Those with alcohol use disorder will continue to drink despite increased isolation and separation from loved ones. People with alcohol use disorder might reduce their participation in social events and become withdrawn over time.