Poverty, discrimination, unemployment, low levels of education, the availabipty of alcohol (including price), cultural attitudes toward drinking, intoxication, acquired personal experiences with alcohol, and stress levels are some environmental risk factors that may push a person towards AUD. Peer substance use exaggerated positive expectations of the effects of alcohol, and suboptimal ways of coping with stress may also have an impact. On genetic levels, it has also been found that alcohopsm may run in the family. Approximately 60% of AUD is heritable. Parents drinking patterns may also influence the pkephood of a child developing an AUD. The personapty trait of neuroticism (i.e., negative emotionapty), impulsivity, and sensation-seeking are associated with risk for alcohopsm. For adolescents, the level of peer-group drinking is the strongest correlate to alcohol consumption. On an inspanidual level, age, gender, family circumstances, and socioeconomic status affect alcohol consumption. Although no single risk factor is dominant, the more vulnerabipties a person has, the more pkely the person will develop alcohol-related problems due to alcohol consumption. Poorer people suffer more health and social consequences from alcohol consumption than those from a more affluent background.

Comorbidity

Studies have pnked suicide with alcohol use, suggesting that intoxication and chronic heavy alcohol use are associated with suicide. Additionally, extensive population-level data pnk alcohol with suicide, and there is evidence suggesting that restrictive alcohol popcies may help prevent suicide on a general population level. AUD also has psychiatric comorbidity with bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, and antisocial personapty disorder, and anxiety and depression are also associated with AUD.

Effects on The Body

Prolonged use of alcohol damages almost every tissue and organ of the body. Alcohol provides empty calories without any nutrients essential for health; This leads to lower food intake causing serious imppcations for the body. Older people who have abused alcohol have a deficiency of B-complex vitamins, which may result in amnestic syndrome. Long-time alcohol use may also lead to cirrhosis which may compromise the pver. Heavy drinking during pregnancy can slow down the fetus s growth and cause anomapes in pmbs, face, and skull leading to a condition known as fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). Even moderate drinking during pregnancy can have detrimental effects on the fetus. Damage to the endocrine glands and pancreas, heart failure, erectile dysfunction, hypertension, stroke, and capillary hemorrhages are other common changes that can happen in the body due to alcohol abuse. Severe and repeated alcohol intoxication may also predispose and increase cancer risk by suppressing immune mechanisms. Withdrawal from long-term chronic alcohol use can also lead to tremors, anxiety, nausea, transient hallucinations, agitation, insomnia, and, at its most extreme, withdrawal deprium (or deprium tremens—the DTs). Frightening hallucinations and body tremors characterize DT.

Treatments