Genes May Be Reason For Jews' Low Alcoholism Rate

Ananova ^ | 9-17-2002

[blam]

Genes may be reason for Jews' low alcoholism rate

Genes, and not religious conviction, explain why Jewish people typically have fewer drink problems than non-Jews.

Researchers in the US say a genetic mutation carried by at least a fifth of Jews appears to protect against alcoholism.

The same inherited trait is fairly common in Asian people, but is much rarer in white Europeans.

The Daily Telegraph says the findings could help explain why Israel has one of the lowest levels of alcoholism in the developed world.

The mutation, called ADH2*2, is involved in the way the body breaks down alcohol in the bloodstream.

Scientists are unsure exactly how it protects against alcoholism, but it is thought to increase levels of the toxic chemical acetaldehyde - a by-product of alcohol metabolism. At high levels, acetaldehyde causes headaches, nausea and flushing.

Almost all white Europeans lack the ADH2*2 variation and so produce less of the by-product. Thus drinking tends to be more pleasurable, increasing the risks of alcoholism.

The new study, published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, looked at the relationship between the gene variant and alcoholism among 75 Israeli Jews aged 22 to 65.

The study's author, Dr Deborah Hasin, from Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute, said: "This finding adds to the growing body of evidence that this genetic variation has a protective effect against alcoholism among Jewish groups."

Story filed: 08:34 Tuesday 17th September 2002

[sneakypete]

Truth is, I feel deprived of real alcohol appreciation.

No problem. If I ever fall off the wagon,I'll invite you over to share a couple of gallons of white whiskey. Bring bail money.

[sneakypete]

that date our common ancestors to an African man who lived 59,000 years ago and an African woman who lived 143,000 years ago.

WOW! Talk about a guy who "digs" older women!

[wardaddy]

I'm in the "I'm open to truth regardless of the risk of being labeled a racist" camp.

Fortunately, this is like the never ending story with no resolution in the foreseeable future. It is unfortunately very clouded by politics from both sides but mainly from the left today.

Disagreements over this subject are like the WTBS or Conservative/Libertarian threads.....irreconcilable.

[wardaddy]

LOL.....they sure lived a long time back then didn't they?

[blam]

"I noticed this a lot while I lived in Japan."

The Japanese are a mixed bunch. The Ainu/Jomon (Caucasians) were in Japan quite a while before the asians migrated into the area.

I had a Chinese employee (from Hong Kong) who went for a beer with me once, after one beer, I had to physically help him out of the bar and drive him home, no kidding. That's where the Native Americans/American Indans get the 'alcohol thing' from, north China. BTW, there were no American Indians (as we know them today) in North America prior to 6,000 years ago. Prior to that, they were all the Kennewick Man variety, Ainu/Jomon, Caucasian 'like.'

The Japanese, who handle alcohol better than most Asians, are a mix of the Chinese/Ainu/Joman stock.

[Michael2001]

I don't know any Jewish people. But, I had a Jewish doctor once who was quick to point out that 'Jews' (Jewish) was a religion and not a race. So...which is it?

Jews are not a race, there are white Jews, black Jews and even Aisan Jews. But if you believe the Bible, most of them are descendants of the same group of people. In this case, they are not a race, but they are an ethnic group, similar to Irish, Germans, or Italians.

On a side note, I can usually tell apart different European ethnic groups, but I sometimes get confused between white Jews and Italians.

[Michael2001]

Hogwash. (And that's the most repectful term I can come up with.) Culture has absolutely nothing to do with genetics. If you drop a Swedish infant into the middle of South Korea, in 18 years you'll have a blond haired, blue eyed Korean; not a Swede. Culture is learned.

If you drop a baby Michael Jordan into Korea, in 18 years you'll probably have a pretty good basketball player. If you dropped a baby Bill Gates into Michael Jordan's crib, you'd have someone who was bright, but not so good at basketball, despite the culture of being raised in Michael Jordan's crib.

[ArneFufkin]

Actually, most studies have shown that the Irish consume less alcohol per capita than many other European people, including Scandinavians, Russians, Germans and most all countries that made up the old East European Soviet bloc. The Irish pub was traditionally the social and political center of the community.

[Lazamataz]

Getting back to the subject at hand.... Every year at Passover, my father would take down a bottle of wine he kept in a kitchen cabinet. He and my mother would sip a little bit. That was it for drinking until the next Passover. In college, I once had two drinks (whiskey). I felt so sick I never drank again. Truth is, I feel deprived of real alcohol appreciation.

You could always just go straight to heroin.

[Lazamataz]

Actually, most studies have shown that the Irish consume less alcohol per capita than many other European people, including Scandinavians, Russians, Germans and most all countries that made up the old East European Soviet bloc. The Irish pub was traditionally the social and political center of the community.

My father's side was Russian Jew.

That means he drank a ton but hated himself the next day.

[ArneFufkin]

LOL! I'll drink to that!

[wardaddy]

Ashkenazim Jewish bloodlines got a pretty big shot in the arm when the Khazars in the modern day Ukrainian region mass converted to Judaism in the late 8th and early 9th centuries. Whether it was mostly the upper classes of the nomadic Khazar kingdom or en masse remains speculation.

[wardaddy]

Good points.

[StopGlobalWhining]

I had a Jewish doctor once who was quick to point out that 'Jews' (Jewish) was a religion and not a race. So...which is it?

This doesn't answer your question directly, but as an aside, Middle Eastern Jews and Palestinians are genetically almost identical. If interested, see Journal axes gene research on Jews and Palestinians

[blam]

Thanks, I've read about that some time back.

[SunkenCiv]

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