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Study reveals why Jews and booze don't mix
Allon Lee, The Australian Jewish News, 27 September 2002
The fact that Jews and alcohol don't mix has more to do with genetics than religion or cultural norms, according to new research that explains why the rate of alcoholism among Jews is lower than within the general community.
In a study conducted by New York Columbia University epidemiologist Dr Deborah Hasin, the role of the gene ADH2*2, which, metabolises alcohol in the body, was investigated.
When alcohol is consumed. ADH2*2 produces an enzyme which converts alcohol into a toxic substance called acetaldehyde, which in symptoms of headache, flushing and nausea.
"Those with greater levels of ADH2*2 in their genetic make-up are unlikely to drink alcohol to excess because of the cons involved and are therefore less likely to become alcoholics," Dr Hasin told the Australian Jewish News this week by telephone from New York.
A number of previous studies have attempted to explain away lower levels of alcoholism among Jews due to religious and cultural values, but alcohol is an important part of the Shabbat service, so it was necessary to analyse a genetic basis, Dr Hasin said.
The genetic make-up of 75 Israeli males of Ashkenazi, Sephardi and Russian descent aged between 22 and 65 were compared, and their alcohol consumption patterns recorded.
The research found that 20 per cent of the group had the ADH2*2 gene — a significant figure, Dr Hasin said — "more than most European Caucasian groups, where the prevalence is between .01 and .05 but certainly not as high as in Asian groups."
The data revealed that the gene's "protective" effect against alcoholism was strongest in Ashkenazism and Sephardim, as opposed to more recent immigrants to Israel from the former Soviet Union, who exhibited heavier drinking patterns.
"This limited study strengthens that theory. Our findings add to the growing body of evidence that this genetic variation has a protective effect against alcoholism among most Jewish groups," Dr Hasin said.
Sydney's Jewish House Crisis Centre director Rabbi Pinchos Woolstone said he was wary of attributing particular genes to a racial group based on behavioural patterns.
"I can tell you that when a Jew and a non-Jew drink a bottle of whisky, the effect is the same."
Indicating that alcohol consumption among Australian Jews is on the rise, Rabbi Woolstone said the main problem was among Jewish youth "who experiment", although this is below the national average.
Fredrick Töben comments
Note the urgency with which there is an attempt tomake the 'Jew' a race. It is sad for scientific research that it gets perverted like that.
But we have already seen how the HIV = AIDS debate has been politicised, at the expense of objective knowledge.
See the following for a detailed assessment of this HIV = AIDS hypothese.
www.virusmyth.net/aids/controversy.htm
