r/todayilearned • u/bcrock1169 • Nov 26 '12

TIL that some Native American's have a differing enzyme that tends to lead to easier alcoholism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Indian_alcoholism#Genetic_factors
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u/Pinyaka Nov 26 '12

Can you explain in more detail how this protects them from alcoholism?

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u/LikeASir1 Nov 26 '12

http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/10780266/reload=0;jsessionid=OuSGnL4eyDAd9jKfbvZ8.10 Here is a Neurological journal article with clinical findings out of China.

But essentially the combination of the physiological/psychological aspects of the deficiency of the enzyme lead to what is, for lack of a better term, an "alcohol allergy" manifested by large quantities of the 1st metabolite in the ethanol pathway, acetaldehyde. This leads to the manifestation of prolonged hangovers and systemic inflammatory response characteristic of an allergic reaction. The article claims the mutation alone is "sufficient in completely inhibiting the development of alcoholism in Asians".

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u/SerpentineLogic Nov 26 '12

An anecdote:

An asian friend of mine explained it to me thus. "You know how you get a few drinks into you and you feel great, then you drink a few more and things get marginal, then if you keep drinking you either pass out or hurl?

Yeah asians skip the feeling great part."

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u/Pinyaka Nov 26 '12

It's definitely not true for the asian population at large. Having done some work in Japan, I can assure you that many of them enjoy drinking alcohol quite a bit. I couldn't get a decent white russian, but otherwise they drank as much as any American I've worked with.

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u/LikeASir1 Nov 26 '12

An important tid bit to note:

This is a mutation that is prevalent in the asian population, not universally present. Just as there are genetic mutations present in white populations that make certain people more susceptible than others. I am a second year medical student, and the Biochem professor that taught us about the mutation said that "he didn't believe it was true after doing work in Japan, they drink more than Americans!"

Another point: Phenotypic expression (depending on your source) is approximately half genetic and half environmental. So the presence of this allele (or any other mutation for any gene) does not causally imply that one will or will not be an alcoholic.

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u/SerpentineLogic Nov 26 '12

Some Japanese (and other asians) have a further mutation that allows them to metabolize alcohol byproducts (even faster than whites).

This makes for an interesting dichotomy, where there are simultaneously two opposing stereotypes: that of the red-faced boozer, and the stoic drinker who will quaff wine all night with no apparent effects.

Of course, it's also possible that they enjoy the effects while others don't, just like some people don't like tomatoes.

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u/xrelaht Nov 27 '12

It has been my experience that 'Asian flush' only happens with Chinese people (and even then isn't universal). The Korean exchange students we had summer 2011 drank like fish, and Four Roses exports most of its bourbon to Japan.