A Peek into a Mind

I knew I’d find a good excuse some day!!

This is for all my European / Aussie friends that looked at worried when I was still having my first pint, while they were deep into their third…

A new study suggests that genes, not religion, may help explain why Jews generally have fewer problems with alcohol than Caucasians in general do.

Indeed, recent investigations have demonstrated “significant relationships between ADH2*2 and alcohol use … in all Jewish groups studied,” Hasin reports. Those with the variant gene have been seen to drink less frequently, consume less alcohol overall or have more unpleasant reactions to alcohol. Until the present study, however, the relationship between ADH2*2 and level of dependence on alcohol was not explored.

The protective effect of ADH2*2 on alcohol dependence severity appeared stronger among the two more established groups of Israeli Jews, the Ashkenazis (those of European background and arrivals from Russia before 1989) and the Sephardics (those of Middle Eastern and North African background), than among more recent immigrants from the former Soviet Union.

Among those with ADH2*2, the recent Russian immigrants tended to have a history of much heavier drinking than their Sephardic and Ashkenazic counterparts. Levels of past and lifetime alcohol dependency — but not current dependency — were also highest among the recent Russian immigrants.

According to Hasin, one logical explanation for these findings is the fact that both genes and environment influence the development of alcohol dependence. “Russia has one of the world’s highest levels of alcohol consumption,” she notes, “whereas Israel has one of the lowest.”

Hasin concludes, “The study’s findings suggest that the recent Russian immigrants’ previous exposure to the heavy-drinking environment of Russian culture overcame the protective effects of the ADH2*2 gene.” Their increased vulnerability to heavy drinking was evidenced by such study measures as peak lifetime alcohol consumption levels.”