Americans & Indians

  On 4/8/2011 at 6:56 AM, xxx said:

Coincidentally, I wrote a rap track about it for extra credit in my biochemistry class.

Oh hells yeah.

they dont just get drunk. they get loopy and flip their cars

  On 4/8/2011 at 2:25 PM, marf said:

they dont just get drunk. they get loopy and flip their cars

Unfortunately this has been my experience. Growing up, friends of the family fostered a Native American teenager. He got fired up and wrapped his car around a telephone pole.

Googled:

  Quote

The quest for genes that influence alcohol abuse follows two paths. One goal is to locate genes that predispose a person to alcoholism. The other is to identify genes that help to prevent this from happening. Li and his coworkers have made important advances in this latter category. "We have identified two genes that protect against heavy drinking, and these are particularly prevalent among Asians," Li says. "We have shown that Native Americans, who have a high rate of alcoholism, do not have these protective genes. The one that is particularly effective is a mutation of the gene for the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase, which plays a major role in metabolizing alcohol. The mutation is found very frequently in Chinese and Japanese populations but is less common among other Asian groups, including Koreans, the Malayo-Polynesian group, and others native to the Pacific Rim. "We've also looked at Euro-Americans, Native Americans, and Eskimos, and they don't have that gene mutation," says Li. Thus, incidentally, the study of genetic mutations and alcoholism links native North-American populations to central Asian ancestors, not to those from China and Japan.

http://www.indiana.edu/~rcapub/v17n3/p18.html

  Quote

American Indians have had the highest incidence of Type II Diabetes of any racial group resulting in related cardiovascular disease, kidney disease and high amputation rates. American Indians also have the highest incidence of alcoholism, nicotine addiction and suicide of any racial group. Physiologically, these are all interrelated.

 

Alcoholism in Native Americans is partly related to an allergic response. American Indians are allergic to a number of the foods brought by Europeans and especially to grains (e.g., wheat, barley, oats, etc.) Food allergy symptoms include fatigue, mental confusion, depression, physical aggression and suicide attempts. After repeated exposure, intense cravings for the allergen and physical addiction resulting in withdrawal symptoms are the maladaptive responses. This allergy was demonstrated by the initial reaction of Indians to grain alcohols described in historical accounts.

 

Alcoholism is lowest in countries where these grains originated thousands of years ago (e.g., Africa, Italy, Greece, etc.) and highest in countries that received these grains more recently (e.g., Russia and northern European countries.) Indians in the US are a prime example of people most recently exposed to these grains and therefore most acutely affected by allergic symptoms.

http://vltakaliseji.tripod.com/Vtlakaliseji/id20.html

I have heard anecdotes that suggest that the introduction of western foods had been disastrous for the teeth of natives. Not having had refined sugars and flour etc. Apparently tooth loss became a big problem with the Inuit and there were some incidents of suicide because of it.

The person who related this to me suggested I read:

"Eskimo and Indian field studies in Alaska and Canada" and

"Nutrition and Physical Degeneration: A Comparison of Primitive and Modern Diets and Their Effects"

Both by this fellow.