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People with blue eyes might have a greater chance of becoming alcoholics, according to a unique new study by genetic researchers at the University of Vermont.
The work, led by Arvis Sulovari, a doctoral student in cellular, molecular and biological sciences, and Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Dawei Li, Ph.D., is the first to make a direct connection between a person's eye color and alcohol dependence. The results of the research, published in the July issue of the American Journal of Medical Genetics: Neuropsychiatric Genetics (Part B), suggest the hope of finding the roots of not only alcoholism, but also many other psychiatric illnesses.
"This suggests an intriguing possibility -- that eye color can be useful in the clinic for alcohol dependence diagnosis," Sulovari says.
The authors found that primarily European Americans with light-colored eyes -- including green, grey and brown in the center -- had a higher incidence of alcohol dependency than those with dark brown eyes, with the strongest tendency among blue-eyed individuals. The study outlines the genetic components that determine eye color and shows that they line up along the same chromosome as the genes related to excessive alcohol use.
Correlation does not equal causation, but more studies are emerging that suggest some traits are linked.
An abstract is available.
Original Submission
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday July 03 2015, @01:48PM
In my experience, blue eyed people do indeed have some problems, but alcohol and drug dependence isn't one of them. Maybe if the study was LIMITED TO Europeans . . . .
Reading again. Yes, that is what they did. They compared European Americans with alcohol problems, and found that a disproportionate amount of European Americans had light colored eyes.
Still not convinced.
But, what about all those OTHER alcoholics? I've met a fair share of green eyed Native Americans, but never noticed that their lighter colored eyes made them more likely to be alcoholics. Forget about ancestry altogether - I've known far more brown eyed people who are alkies, than blue, green, gray, hazel, gold-flecked COMBINED. Stop off in any bar near you, and take an informal survey.
Blue eyes. I tend to associate blue eyes with abusive and/or pedo parents more than anything else, but that's just anecdotal experience again.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 03 2015, @03:11PM
Wait, they didn't have a control group of European Americans without alcohol problems? I surely hope they had, or else their claim is worth exactly nothing.
Most criminals were drinking water less than 24 hours before performing a crime. Therefore there's a clear link between drinking of water and criminality!
(Score: 3, Funny) by FatPhil on Friday July 03 2015, @03:21PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Saturday July 04 2015, @02:08PM
Lots of Americans of Irish descent, I'm one. How many Irishmen does it take to change a light bulb?
Three, one to hold the bulb and two to drink until the room spins.
If you're in a bar and someone speaks with a British accent, how can you tell if they're English, Scottish, or Irish? Wait until a fly lands in their beer.
An Englishman will move the beer aside and politely order another one.
A Scotsman will make a face, take the fly out, and continue drinking.
An Irishman will pull the fly out and scream "SPIT IT OUT YOU LITTLE BASTARD!!"
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org