Alcoholism is the dependence on, or addiction to, alcohol.
It's a chronic, progressive, and sometimes fatal disease. The reasons why one person develops alcoholism and another doesn't have been the subject of much study. However, while this research has produced no certain predictors of alcoholic drinking, there is evidence indicating there might be a genetic predisposition to alcoholism. According to the National Council on Alcoholism, a child of an alcoholic has four times the risk of becoming alcoholic than does a child of non-alcoholic parents. Some alcoholics begin drinking to the point of intoxication from their very first drink.