This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Substance Abuse/ Alcoholism  • Genetics  • Genetics, Other  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Tracy Hampton, PhD

JAMA. 2004;292:321-322.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Chicago—Kicking an alcohol or nicotine habit is rarely easy. But scientists analyzing the effects of various genes in addiction and recovery are finding that some individuals may have genetic variants that make it particularly difficult to overcome these dependencies.

New findings presented at the American Psychological Society's annual convention in May implicate genetic variants that affect cell surface receptors and a neurotransmitter involved in the brain's reward system. The hope is that such findings will one day enable scientists to develop new and better ways to help patients with alcohol or smoking problems.

Scientists are identifying genetic variants that may make it difficult for some individuals to overcome alcohol and nicotine dependencies. (Photo credit: Corbis)

ALCOHOL AND THE OPIOID RECEPTOR

One culprit that may play a role in how well individuals fare in alcohol rehabilitation is the µ-opioid receptor. The presence of alcohol increases brain . . . [Full Text of this Article]

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?