Common Genes may Raise Risk of Alcohol Dependence and Eating Disorders

Many people have high risk of developing alcohol dependence due to some genetic variation. This holds true for people with eating disorders too. A new study has now found that both the disorders may be due to the same set of genetic variants.

The study was conducted by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine who found that people with alcohol disorders have high risk of developing eating disorders and vice versa. Their study is published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

"In clinical practice, it's been observed that individuals with eating disorders also have high rates of alcohol abuse and dependence," said Melissa A. Munn-Chernoff, PhD, fist author of the study.

The latest study even involved men, unlike previous research that focussed on women with eating disorders.

Women are more prone to develop eating disorders than men. Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder are the types of eating problems that a woman may develop during teenage or early adulthood. However, some women may develop these conditions later in life as well. Culture, stressful events, emotional problems and family perception are all factors responsible for a woman developing these disorders, according to womenshealth.gov.

Alcohol Dependence (AD) is when the person is physically dependent on alcohol. People with AD may have severe symptoms like withdrawal and craving.

The present study was based on data of 6,000 adult twins in Australia. Researchers found common genetic factors behind alcoholism and eating disorders. They used statistical analysis to find the odds of the same gene causing the disorders.

"By comparing the findings in identical and fraternal twins, we can develop estimates of how much of the difference in particular traits is due to genes or environment," Munn-Chernoff explained in a news release. "We found that some of the genes that influence alcohol dependence also influence binge eating in men and women."

In the study, 25 percent of men and 6 percent of women had developed alcoholism. About 11 percent of the men who had AD and 13 percent of women had eating disorders. Also, 14 percent of these women had used laxatives or diuretics.

The genetic correlation between alcohol dependence and eating disorders was about 0.26 on a statistical scale in which 0 meant no shared genes and 1 meant all genes shared. 

"Those numbers suggest that there are shared genetic risk factors for these behaviors, such as purging and fasting. It appears that some genes that influence alcohol dependence also influence binge eating in men and women, and compensatory behaviors in women," said Munn-Chernoff.