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Enoch Gordis, MD; Boris Tabakoff, PhD; David Goldman, MD; Kate Berg, PhD

JAMA. 1990;263(15):2094-2095.

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

In this issue of the JOURNAL,¹ Blum and colleagues report a surprisingly strong association between an allele of the dopamine D₂ receptor and alcoholism. This observation is provocative and promising but must be regarded with caution. Here is the background.

Research during the last two decades has provided strong evidence that at least part of the vulnerability to becoming alcoholic on exposure to alcohol is inherited.² In most twin studies, identical (monozygotic) twins have been found to be approximately twice as likely to be in concordance for alcoholism as fraternal (dizygotic) twins of the same sex. The strongest evidence for a genetic role in alcoholism comes from the adoption studies of Bohman, Cloninger, and others.² Young children who were adopted away from alcoholic biological parents and raised in a nonalcoholic family developed many more alcohol problems as adults than similar adoptees whose biological parents were not . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
From the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Rockville, Md.

Footnotes
Reprint requests to Office of the Director, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 5600 Fishers Ln, Room 16-105, Rockville, MD 20857 (Dr Gordis).

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