Definition:

Alcohol dependence (AD) is a chronic but often disease that includes problems in controlling one's drinking, being preoccupied with alcohol, continuing to use alcohol even when it causes problems, having to drink more to get the same effect (physical dependence), or having withdrawal symptoms when one rapidly decreases or stops drinking. The contribution of genetic factors to the development of AD is high. The best classical candidate genes for AD are alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). Both genes are involved in enzymatic degradation of alcohol. Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have reported that the most robust associations for AD have been with such enzyme genes, especially ALDH2 in East Asian populations and ADH1B in European American and African American populations.