This is a blog for Biology 12 students to think critically and form opinions regarding social issues in their study of human biology.
Monday, December 7, 2009
a new view of drug addiction - page 862
There is a genetic link between chemical imbalances and drug dependency, therefore persons with family members that are dependent on drugs will be much more susceptible to drug addiction.
I agree with these statements. If there is a history of drug addiction in a family there is a great chance that children could also develop drug habits. This is especially true when the childrens parents are still drug users, exposure to the drugs makes them easier for the kids to obtain, which could lead to experimentation.
I agree that people with drug addictions are likely to genetically pass the addiction down throughout their family because in many scenarios parents who have serious drug addictions won't properly look after their child resulting with their child always having to live side by side with drugs. Children who have had exposure to drugs their whole lives may not see the consequences and could be more likely to start using at a young age.
As I understand, dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain that is responsible for feeling good. Certain drugs (cocaine, nicotine, etc.) will increase the amount of dopamine in the brain, giving us an unnatural high. So looking at heretics and chemical imbalances; if a certain family has a gene that is defficient in dopamine, a person may become addicted to drugs to try and rebalance the chemicals. But this is not the sole cause of alcoholism and drug addictions. Environmental factors, as Sarita and Devon have pointed out, play very significant roles in addictions as well.
As Samme pointed out, scientifically it is believed that people who suffer from low dopamine levels compensate by using substances such as alcohol and other drugs. Also, those who experience depression are believed to be more subjected to drug addiction because of such low dopamine levels. One may try to use perscription drugs in case of medical difficulties due to low dopamine levels. These drugs tend to have dopamine in them to increase dopamine levels in the brain but if these levels go to high they can lead to addictive behaviour. Of course, influence of family members and environment will also affect the possibility of future drug addiction.
If the susceptibility to drug addiction is passed down and not the drug addiction itself is it fair to say that children with parents or other members in their family that have addictions need to be more cautious in the experimenting with recreational drugs than those who may not have any family members with addictions?
Children with parents or family members who have an addiction should be extra careful when experimenting with recreational drugs. They are more susceptible to an addiction, so staying away from drugs or alcohol would be best. This does not mean that people who arent predisposed to addiction should experiment freely with recreational drugs because there is still a large chance they will become addicted as well.
What kind of consequences does this statement have? As an employer would it be my right to research family history on a potential employee in order to determine the likelihood that they will become addicted to alcohol and/or drugs? Should I be able to screen employees based on this? It seems like discrimination but is it?
addiction sometimes isnt always a choice sometimes it can feel like its your only option because of your lifestyle, education, family members and parents. i do believe that genetics can also play a huge role in whether a person becomes addicted to drugs and alcohol. i also agree with sammie when she says "Children with parents or family members who have an addiction should be extra careful when experimenting with recreational drugs. They are more susceptible to an addiction, so staying away from drugs or alcohol would be best. "
I disagree that the reason a family's drug addiction can be passed on to their children genetically. It is a theory. I do know that children born into a drug exposed family has a higher chance of becoming a drug addict because they develop the same behaviours of their parents or siblings. The children are wrongly exposed to these drugs from observing their parents and can develop an addiction, as stated on the website: http://www.drugaddictiontreatment.ca/news.php?include=134424. If people inherited drug addiction from family members, then there would be a way greater amount of people addicted to drugs in the world. If we went back through our family history, there would most likely be a case of drug addiction. I believe that people who become dependent on drugs develop this addiction by experience. It may be within their family but it is not genetically passed down to them.
It is true that "there is a genetic link between chemical imbalances and drug dependency." As Samme and Katie has said, people with low dopamine levels can be much more susceptible to drug addiction because of the resulting high that comes from these drugs - illegal or otherwise. However, I do not believe that we can only blame genetics for the extremely high number of drug abuse cases in our society. As stated on this website: http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/162/8/1401 , "genetic factors are estimated to contribute to 40%–60% of the variability in the risk of addiction, but this includes the contribution of combined genetic-environmental interactions." So, what about the other 40%-60% of factors? According to http://www.drug-addiction-support.org/drug-addiction-causes.html , the major factors [of drug addiction] are one’s genetic makeup, personality and peer pressure." I believe personality plays a huge roll in the probability of one becoming addicted to drugs. Because even though genetics and environment have a lot to do with it, in the end (for most cases) it is a personal choice whether to experiment with illegal drugs or to receive unnecessary prescriptions to facilitate these addictions.
13 comments:
I agree with these statements. If there is a history of drug addiction in a family there is a great chance that children could also develop drug habits. This is especially true when the childrens parents are still drug users, exposure to the drugs makes them easier for the kids to obtain, which could lead to experimentation.
I agree that people with drug addictions are likely to genetically pass the addiction down throughout their family because in many scenarios parents who have serious drug addictions won't properly look after their child resulting with their child always having to live side by side with drugs. Children who have had exposure to drugs their whole lives may not see the consequences and could be more likely to start using at a young age.
As I understand, dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain that is responsible for feeling good. Certain drugs (cocaine, nicotine, etc.) will increase the amount of dopamine in the brain, giving us an unnatural high.
So looking at heretics and chemical imbalances; if a certain family has a gene that is defficient in dopamine, a person may become addicted to drugs to try and rebalance the chemicals.
But this is not the sole cause of alcoholism and drug addictions. Environmental factors, as Sarita and Devon have pointed out, play very significant roles in addictions as well.
As Samme pointed out, scientifically it is believed that people who suffer from low dopamine levels compensate by using substances such as alcohol and other drugs. Also, those who experience depression are believed to be more subjected to drug addiction because of such low dopamine levels. One may try to use perscription drugs in case of medical difficulties due to low dopamine levels. These drugs tend to have dopamine in them to increase dopamine levels in the brain but if these levels go to high they can lead to addictive behaviour. Of course, influence of family members and environment will also affect the possibility of future drug addiction.
If the susceptibility to drug addiction is passed down and not the drug addiction itself is it fair to say that children with parents or other members in their family that have addictions need to be more cautious in the experimenting with recreational drugs than those who may not have any family members with addictions?
Children with parents or family members who have an addiction should be extra careful when experimenting with recreational drugs. They are more susceptible to an addiction, so staying away from drugs or alcohol would be best. This does not mean that people who arent predisposed to addiction should experiment freely with recreational drugs because there is still a large chance they will become addicted as well.
What kind of consequences does this statement have? As an employer would it be my right to research family history on a potential employee in order to determine the likelihood that they will become addicted to alcohol and/or drugs? Should I be able to screen employees based on this? It seems like discrimination but is it?
addiction sometimes isnt always a choice sometimes it can feel like its your only option because of your lifestyle, education, family members and parents. i do believe that genetics can also play a huge role in whether a person becomes addicted to drugs and alcohol. i also agree with sammie when she says "Children with parents or family members who have an addiction should be extra careful when experimenting with recreational drugs. They are more susceptible to an addiction, so staying away from drugs or alcohol would be best. "
I disagree that the reason a family's drug addiction can be passed on to their children genetically. It is a theory. I do know that children born into a drug exposed family has a higher chance of becoming a drug addict because they develop the same behaviours of their parents or siblings. The children are wrongly exposed to these drugs from observing their parents and can develop an addiction, as stated on the website: http://www.drugaddictiontreatment.ca/news.php?include=134424. If people inherited drug addiction from family members, then there would be a way greater amount of people addicted to drugs in the world. If we went back through our family history, there would most likely be a case of drug addiction. I believe that people who become dependent on drugs develop this addiction by experience. It may be within their family but it is not genetically passed down to them.
It is true that "there is a genetic link between chemical imbalances and drug dependency." As Samme and Katie has said, people with low dopamine levels can be much more susceptible to drug addiction because of the resulting high that comes from these drugs - illegal or otherwise. However, I do not believe that we can only blame genetics for the extremely high number of drug abuse cases in our society. As stated on this website: http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/162/8/1401 , "genetic factors are estimated to contribute to 40%–60% of the variability in the risk of addiction, but this includes the contribution of combined genetic-environmental interactions." So, what about the other 40%-60% of factors? According to http://www.drug-addiction-support.org/drug-addiction-causes.html , the major factors [of drug addiction] are one’s genetic makeup, personality and peer pressure." I believe personality plays a huge roll in the probability of one becoming addicted to drugs. Because even though genetics and environment have a lot to do with it, in the end (for most cases) it is a personal choice whether to experiment with illegal drugs or to receive unnecessary prescriptions to facilitate these addictions.
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