Sensitivity to alcohol connected with alcoholism risk
An imperviousness to alcohol’s effects may not be so good
By Nathan Seppa
Being able to drink your buddies under the table may garner grudging respect around the bar, but it bodes poorly for the long term. A new study finds that young men for whom alcohol has little effect face a greater risk of developing alcoholism later in life than those who readily feel alcohol’s effects.
Reporting online May 22 and in the September issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, scientists find that the added risk a man carries by being more resistant to alcohol’s effects endures even after accounting for other factors such as teenage drinking habits and family history of alcohol abuse.
Since the 1970s, scientists have been investigating an apparent link between a person’s resistance to alcohol’s effects and a higher risk of alcohol abuse later. “But many didn’t believe it was real,” says Marc Schuckit, a psychiatrist at the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla and the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System.
To nail down the correlation, Schuckit and his colleagues analyzed data collected on 297 men, all about 20 years old, between 1978 and 1988. Every participant underwent tests to measure his response to alcohol. Despite similar blood-alcohol levels, the degree of impairment varied substantially among the men. The young men also provided drinking-related information, including how much they drank, their age when they had their first drink and whether alcoholism ran in their families.