An article published in the July 17th edition of Psychiatric News:
A genetically associated characteristic — the level of response to alcohol — connects genetic vulnerabilities with the environment to reveal the complicated process through which alcohol use disorders develop.
By Jun Yan
Like other mental illnesses, alcohol use disorders (AUDs) develop through interactions of multiple genetic vulnerabilities and environmental factors over a long period. By understanding these interactions, psychiatrists can devise and apply targeted, effective, and efficient prevention methods.These were the messages of Marc Schuckit, M.D. [pictured], in his Adolf Meyer Award lecture at APA's 2009 annual meeting in May in San Francisco. Schuckit is a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, and director of the Alcohol and Drug Treatment Program and Alcohol Research Center at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System.
His lecture, "How Alcoholism Develops: Identification of Genetic and Environmental Influences in a 25-Year Longitudinal Study," examined groundbreaking research by him and his colleagues on the intricate dynamics between genes and environment that reveal much about AUDs as well as other mental illnesses.
To read the entire article, please click here.
Photograph by David Hathcox
