Posted by SLS on November 25, 2005, at 7:57:49
In reply to Re: This was a rhetorical question everyone » SLS, posted by alexandra_k on November 14, 2005, at 12:29:09
Hi.
> Twin studies have shown that addictive behaviour HAS A HERITABLE COMPONANT. There is a difference.
Not according to the way the word "heritable" is used in medical literature. This semantic aside, twin separation studies demonstrate that addiction can follow a pattern of genetic inheritence. It is not, however, a simple single-gene trait that determines how the genotype will express as a phenotype. Not even eye color works this way. Nor do genetics account for the evolution of addiction in every case. However, it would be sabotoge to discount the role that genetics does play. As would the denial of the involvement of psychosocial factors in many cases of addiction, the denial of the involvement of the genetic factors leads to a an incomplete understanding or misunderstanding of the human condition. This hurts. It can confer feelings of failure when an addict tries to account for how he ended up in such a behavioral loop in the first place and why he can't seem to break it, despite a genuine desire to do so. Such misunderstandings can also prevent the formulation and application of successful treatments by others who attempt to help the addict. As the number of failed attempts to break addiction accumulate, the addict often feels less empowered to do so and eventually gives up on the idea.
> My issue is that the main focus on differences between different ethnic / racial / cultural groups seems to be to focus on biological differences.
Whose main focus? Geneticists are not the only epidemiologists. I can guarantee you that the study of diabetes in native American peoples includes diet and eating behavior. So too, has the investigation of addiction in varied populations included the study of psychosocial and cultural factors. I have read several of these studies. The observation of disease does not require a need to explain it. It is what it is. Many diseases are the result of very complex interactions among multiple agents, both internal and external. This realization is not lost on the intelligence of those people who study them.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:575263
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/subs/20051106/msgs/582038.html