disabilities, developmental disabilities, seizures, or even a small head size. Furthermore, FAS children may develop hearing problems, heart defects and physical and behavioural problems. Researchers have also found that some children who were exposed to alcohol during fetal development show only some of the characteristics of FAS, these children are diagnosed as having fetal alcohol effects (FAE). However, both FAS and FAE individuals may have some degree of brain damage (Brent, 1991). Clearly, in addition to physiological, social, and psychological factors which all play a role in contributing to alcoholism, recent studies reveal that there may be a genetic predisposition to alcoholism. More specifically, medical research indicates that alcoholism is hereditary and gives support to those who believe that children of alcoholics have a greater chance of become alcoholics themselves. This argument is supported by Lieber, chief researcher of a research program on liver disease, who discovered that the mitochondria in the liver of alcoholics are unable to convert acetaldehyde into acetate like those of non-alcoholics. This being evident even at the early stages of heavy alcohol consumption suggests that even before the alcoholic started to drink his/her lover cells were altered. To add to this, Psychiatrist Mark Schuleit, who studied children of alcoholics, found that metabolic abnormalities exist prior to heavy drinking. Like their parents, their children were unable to convert acetaldehyde at regular speed (Miliam & Ketchman, 1981). Furthermore, Researchers claim to have been able to separate hereditary influences from environmental ones by testing children who had been put up for adoption at birth by their alcoholic parents. Findings affirm that the adopted children had a high rate of alcoholism and thus conclude children of alcoholics have a much higher risk of becoming alcoholics themselves. Specifically, they are four times...
