How Do We Know if Alcohol Is Bad for You? | Freakonomics, M.D. | Episode 30

What can an alcohol allergy teach us about cancer? A lot, as it turns out - thanks to a concept called Mendelian randomization. Mendelian randomization studies compare groups of otherwise similar people who differ only in certain genetic variants, like alcohol tolerance.
About 560 million people of East Asian descent have a genetic variant that impairs their ability to detoxify alcohol, leading many to drink less than the general population - and enabling researchers to use Mendelian randomization to investigate other health conditions. One study found that alcohol intake - and not other factors, like diet or smoking - caused elevated cancer rates among Chinese men.
What can this teach us about heart disease? Could a genetic variant that affects LDL cholesterol help prevent heart attacks? How will Mendelian randomization and emerging medical technology help solve some of medicine’s most pressing problems? Find out in this episode of Freakonomics, M.D., hosted by Harvard physician and economist Bapu Jena.
This episode was originally published March 24, 2022.
For a full transcript, resources, and more, visit: freak.ws/3yHjVer
Photo credit: Lipofskyphoto.com
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