Alcohol consumption continues to be on the rise around the world, and many people continue to take it abusively.

Scientists have discovered that alcoholism and how heavily men and women drink, sort of depend on certain genes. They note that while some people will drink a lot and not face major consequences, others will suffer grave effects of excessive alcohol consumption like liver problems.   

A video shows a drop in alcohol consumption among people in the UK between 2004 and 2014. According to a recent study, the beta-Klotho gene seems to be the reason why social drinkers react differently to alcohol. The gene seems to explain why some people will take a glass or two of alcohol and become sober, while others continue to drink heavily and don’t quite feel the effects.

The study involved 105,000 light and heavy social drinkers who were observed to see the responsibility of the beta-Klotho gene on their alcohol intake and the results prove that effectively, the beta-Klotho gene in collaboration with other receptors in the body act to determine the impact of alcohol in an individual.

The true impact of this study may forever be unclear, but it one remains certain; alcohol addicts can benefit from it. Scientists should be able to draw inspiration from the study to see how they can regulate production of the beta-Klotho gene in the body to limit the alcohol intake of addicts. Should this happen, millions of Americans could be saved from complications like heart and liver problems that result from abusive alcohol use.