Adverse reactions to drugs and metabolic problems perceived in Northern Canadian Indians and Eskimos.

Eskimos and to a slightly lesser degree Northern Indians are extremely rapid acetylators as tested with isoniazid. They also tend to clear phenytoin rapidly as proven in Greenland Eskimos and supported by clinical observations in Canadian Eskimos. Most "silent gene" cholinesterase cases found in Canada came from the tiny minorities of Northern Indians and Eskimos and an even higher prevalence was found in an isolate of South Western Alaskan Eskimos. We found alcohol metabolism significantly slower in Northern Indians and Eskimos than Caucasians, which is at variance with findings in other Amerindian groups and Asiatic Mongoloids reflecting perhaps quite different physical and nutritional environments over long periods of time. Pecularities of sugar metabolism found in Natives of the Canadian Arctic and Sub-Arctic may also be best explained by the relative deficiency of carbohydrates in their traditional diet.