Alocholism over E. Europe is caused by... Mongol??

Alcoholism and Mongoloid Ancestry

By Jeremy Page / The Times of London

As many as 50 per cent of Muscovites are estimated to have inherited Mongol genes that make them absorb more alcohol into the bloodstream and break it down at a slower rate than most Europeans, they say.

"The difference is huge - in reaction speed, memory, hand tremor and in how they recover," Vladimir Nuzhny of the health ministry's National Narcology Research Centre said. "On average, 50 per cent of people in Moscow have this Mongoloid gene. So this, we think, is part of the problem."

As part of the study, the scientists paid 12 volunteer students to drink 350 grams, about a third of a bottle, of vodka in an hour, and then monitored their behaviour.

"That's a lot by Western standards, but it's normal for Russia," Dr. Nuzhny told The Times. "At first they thought it was great because they were being paid to drink, but after a while they realized it was more like work."

After sleeping off the effects in a dormitory at the laboratory - which had a karaoke machine - the students were given a slap-up breakfast before doing more tests to measure their hangovers. The study showed that those with the Mongol genes absorbed 50 per cent more alcohol into the bloodstream at peak levels and metabolized it much more slowly than the other students.

The Mongols swept across Asia and Russia and into Europe in the 13th century and ruled Russia for two centuries. Intermarriage with the Slavs and other ethnic groups was common.