Researchers report that some alcoholics may be genetically predisposed to developing cirrhosis of the liver, a life-threatening condition that strikes up to one in five alcoholics.
Scientists from New York's Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Toronto-based Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Research Foundation report they have found a certain variant of a collagen gene is far more prevalent in alcoholics who have liver cirrhosis than those who do not. Previous research has shown an increase in collagen type 1--a major protein in connective tissue--is linked to the development of chronic alcoholic liver disease.
