Don’t blame beer if you’re angry - Beer, Wine, Homebrew, and Everything Fermentable!

Don’t blame beer if you’re angry

Written by DJ Spiess

Wednesday, 17 December 2008

Everyone knows at least one “angry drunk”, the type of drinker who gets angry or violent after a few beers. New research shows it's bad genes.

Researchers at the Helsinki University Central Hospital have found individuals born with a highly active version of the MAOA gene have a higher risk of impulse violence when drinking alcohol. The MAOA gene produces an enzyme that breaks down chemicals in the brain which are associated with mood. Too much of the enzyme mixed with alcohol creates a mean drunk.

The effect diminishes with age which is why you don’t see too many violent old drunks. Older drunks just yell at imaginary kids on the lawn.

Maybe Sydney has a higher incidence of an overactive MAOA gene?

The researches discovered “the bad gene/angry drunk” connection by studying 174 Finish alcoholic male offenders with a history of violence. The research will appear in the March issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

(Source: Telegraph.co.uk)

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