Children of alcoholics

Dear Dr. Levy: I have a brother who is, and has been, an alcoholic for many, many years, and my husband has an uncle and cousin who are recovering alcoholics on his side of the family. My question to you is what are the chances of my children becoming alcoholics? Is it greater because we both have them in our families?

From The Providence Journal.

Every organization has history and myth. History tells us that the very first meetings in which the wives of alcoholics began to study the 12 Steps began in San Francisco, but the myth, always more powerful, says that Lois Wilson began the program in New York.

There is an interesting explanation to a COA writing to get help from a columnist at the Daily Observer in Ontario, CA

Dear Sam: My dad is an alcoholic. No amount of pleading stops him from drinking.
Even when he is sober he acts in the same confusing, manipulative way. What's with addicts that make them so messed up?

While most 7-year-old girls are experimenting with dolls and dress-up, Tijana Williams focused on Jack Daniels and Jameson.

Before she hit second grade, Williams learned how to mix drinks for her dad.

"I was his little bartender. And that developed into me making my own drinks and hiding them," Williams said. "I started drinking heavily when I was around 11 years old."

• Not all children prenatally exposed to alcohol show distinctive facial anomalies usually associated with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS).
  
• New findings indicate that deficits in eyeblink conditioning (EBC) can identify children with probable FAS.
  
• EBC may also serve to identify alcohol-exposed children who lack distinctive FAS features.
  

If you are a teen and are drinking to cope with anger, fear or depression, you are also at serious risk of abusing alcohol. Recent research states:

Recent research out the University of California, San Francisco found a gene variant for 'impulsivity' that they say is linked to alcoholism. From the article:

The evidence is growing that women from alcoholic families, and therefore women who have a higher genetic risk of alcoholism, taste sweet flavors differently, more intensely, than those who do not come from alcoholic homes.

Kelsey Grammer's daughter, Spencer Grammer, 23, recently voiced concerns that her father’s struggle with drugs and alcohol left her predisposed to substance abuse.

I'm very aware [of being predisposed to addiction]. I drink, but I don't get totally drunk all the time. I like having a glass of wine at dinner or scotch. I love scotch.

A new center for the study of alcohol's effects during pregnancy has been formed in Canada. The center's first major funding is coming from The Brewers Association of Canada. The director said of her decision to accept their funding, "Alcohol is here to stay and they can't control people who abuse their products."