What if alcoholism could be detected by eye color? The debate is on, with scientists having discovered a link between people with clear eyes and alcohol addiction.
-1435310557-1436004376.jpg "Eye color may indicate vulnerability to alcohol")
Notice to those with blue eyes: you also have a greater possibility of developing an addiction to alcohol. At least that’s what researchers at the University of Vermont found in a study published in theAmerican Journal of medical genetics. The color of the eyes could be an additional clue to understand a little better the genetic predispositions of alcoholism.
The study is based on genetic data from 1,263 people suffering from alcohol dependence. Among people with lighter, blue eyes in particular, alcoholism seems to develop faster and more significantly.
For Arvis Sulovari, one of the authors of the study, these results constitute “an interesting avenue for refining diagnostic tests for alcoholism”. Eye color could now be examined, along with other genetic factors, to establish an individual’s predispositions to this dependence, which is now the second leading cause of premature death in France.
Precautions to take
However, this study should be taken with a grain of salt. Indeed, it highlights a correlation but not a cause and effect relationship. The more so as the causes of alcoholism are particularly complicated to determine, insofar as many genetic factors are associated with the environment and the experiences of the individual.
Additional research will be carried out by the team to learn more about the determinants of the disease, and the role played by genetic markers such as eye color.
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