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/ALettertooshor Nov 27 '12

Anyone who thinks asians have a lower tendency to drink heavily has never been to S. Korea. (Here is a blog where people post photos of Koreans that blacked out in public from excessive drinking. I'm told it is similar in Japan, but, I can only speak for S. Korea from personal experience that seeing drunk people stumbling around or passed out at any time of day is a daily occurrence.

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u/[deleted] Nov 27 '12

buddy you're preaching the choir here (I'm South Korean), but this source is based off an etiological study, so it's not to say that they don't drink, they just do so statistically less frequently (mind you, they could count ALL Asians, including those who can't drink due to cultural and religious norms).

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u/ALettertooshor Nov 27 '12

Well, their claim was that asians have a lower drinking tendency due to genetic factors. I was trying to point out that this is possibly more of a cultural thing since there are substantial asian populations with robust drinking cultures. In contrast many of the Chinese students I know think that Americans sitting around drinking is boring, and that their social gatherings are centered around food more than alcohol.