Stuart Gitlow, MD, MPH, MBA, Executive Director, Annenberg Physician Training Program in Addictive Disease, discusses alcoholism and argues that it is in fact a disease rather than a behavioral pattern, and illustrates this with the example of diabetes, which was regarded as a behavioral disorder before its genetic origins were elucidated.
References and Resources:
Ponce G, Pérez-González R, Aragüés M, Palomo T, Rodríguez-Jiménez R, Jiménez-Arriero MA, Hoenicka J. The ANKK1 Kinase Gene and Psychiatric Disorders.
Ooteman W, Naassila M, Koeter MW, Verheul R, Schippers GM, Houchi H, Daoust M, van den Brink W. Predicting the effect of naltrexone and acamprosate in alcohol-dependent patients using genetic indicators.
Alcoholism – a disease or a behavioral pattern?
Reducing the stigma of psychiatric and addictiive disease
June 17, 2009 • Diabetes, Family Medicine, Gastroenterology, Internal Medicine, Patient Education, Psychiatry & Mental Health
