Alcohol Dependence Influenced By Eye Color

alcohol pouring

Here’s a heads up for all of our light-eyed friends: you’re destined to be an alcoholic. Okay, maybe not destined, but there’s a statistically significant relationship between genes for light colored eyes and genes related to alcohol dependence. This means that there’s a very good chance that these genes have a genetic interaction, aka one gene affects the other.

In a recent study conducted by the University of Vermont, more than 1,200 subjects were included in a survey sample. After scientists controlled for variables such as age, sex, and ancestry, it was found that “alcohol dependence was more prevalent among those with light eyes than those with dark brown eyes. People with blue eyes had the highest rates of alcohol dependence.”

Macro of a blue eye. Picture converted to black and white except for the iris. Side view, selective focus.

During the study, researchers defined “alcohol dependence” using criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – 4th Edition, which breaks down the term into different specifying aspects.

But why?

There’s been many studies that have shows the differences between light-eyed people and dark-eyed people in their tolerance for alcohol, pain, mental sharpness, and more. But pinpointing exactly why the relationship between alcohol dependence and light eyes exists remains elusive to the University of Vermont researchers.

Researcher Dawei Li, who co-led the study with Ph.D. student Arvis Sulovari has said, “Right now it’s a question for us — we don’t know what drives this,” Li said. However, the study “suggests an intriguing possibility — that eye color can be useful in the clinic for alcohol dependence diagnosis,” Sulovari said in a release.

You can read the study’s complete findings here.

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