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Heavy Drinking May Change DNA, Leading to Increased Craving for Alcohol

posted by mrpg on Thursday January 31 2019, @07:20AM   
from the alcohol-as-a-parasite dept.

"exec" writes:

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Binge and heavy drinking may trigger a long-lasting genetic change, resulting in an even greater craving for alcohol, according to a Rutgers-led study in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

"We found that people who drink heavily may be changing their DNA in a way that makes them crave alcohol even more," said Distinguished Professor Dipak K. Sarkar, senior author of the study and director of the Endocrine Program in the Department of Animal Sciences at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. "This may help explain why alcoholism is such a powerful addiction, and may one day contribute to new ways to treat alcoholism or help prevent at-risk people from becoming addicted."

In 2016, more than 3 million people died from the harmful use of alcohol, according a World Health Organization report. That is 5 percent of all global deaths. More than three-quarters of alcohol-caused deaths were among men. The harmful use of alcohol also caused 5.1 percent of the worldwide toll of disease and injuries.

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Original Submission

• Re:Not changing the DNA, just gene expression Re:Not changing the DNA, just gene expression (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @11:30AM (2 children)

  by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @11:30AM (#794488)

  No, the people were exposed to some stressor which lead to an epigenetic change, which lead to a tendency to drink more.

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• Re:Not changing the DNA, just gene expression Re:Not changing the DNA, just gene expression (Score: 2) by HiThere on Thursday January 31 2019, @05:20PM (1 child)

  by HiThere (866) on Thursday January 31 2019, @05:20PM (#794598) Journal

  That's a reasonable alternative hypothesis. Got a study to back it up?

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  Parent

  • Re:Not changing the DNA, just gene expression (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @06:55PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 31 2019, @06:55PM (#794648)

    Sure, this one. The evidence supports either conclusion just as well.

    Parent