Hey folks, Laci Green here for DNews. You're probably already well aware that gambling

can be addictive. What's a fun night on the town for most people can be a toxic breeding

ground for impulsive behavior in about 2-4% of the population. Gambling addiction works

just like other types of addiction: the person becomes obsessed and they can't control themselves,

it's the ultimate high. They'll continue to pursue the high -- even as they're running

into financial problems and tearing their family apart. Some may even break the law

or steal in order to recover their losses. Even though problem gambling is commonly seen

as a personal failing by the mainstream, scientists have found that there is real biology behind

the behavior. For many years, scientists thought that gambling was a matter of impulse control

-- I mean, claiming that gambling was like alcoholism was pretty controversial in the

70s and 80s. But last year, psychiatrists moved problem gambling to the addictions chapter

of the DSM, reflecting our developed understanding of addiction in the brain.

This week, scientists have added more to the growing body of researching about gambling

-- and they've found some pretty important stuff. Awhile ago on DNews we talked about

how smoking is contagious, then pregnancy, and now gambling. In a new study published

in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, scientists have found that having a relative with a gambling

problem puts you at EIGHT TIMES the risk of developing one as well. Amongst those with

gambling problems, 11% of their relatives also had pathological issues -- compare that

to the non-addicted population where only 1% of their relatives have gambling problems.

But here's the real kicker: amongst the RELATIVES of those with a gambling problem, the scientists

also found a much higher prevalence of behavioral disorders: like antisocial personality disorder,

and social anxiety. And, those disorders in the relatives didn't necessarily overlap with

pathological gambling itself. There were some overlaps though with MOOD disorders: in the

pathological gamblers, rates of bipolar disorder, major depression, and substance abuse were

much more common.

What this suggests is that problem gambling and some psychiatric disorders may have some

kind of shared genetic cause, which could hold the key to effective treatments and help

us better understand psychiatric disorders. But scientists aren't quite sure what genes

are at play..........yet.

Thanks for watching DNews everyone! We'll be back soon with more science updates.