If your face flushes red after you sip half a bottle of beer, like many Asians, you could be doing more damage to your DNA from a night of drinking than other people.
A recent Cambridge University study found that mice exposed to a dose of alcohol roughly equivalent to a person drinking four or five pints of beer have observable DNA and chromosome damage in their blood cells afterwards.
And mice with the gene responsible for the “Asian flush” or “Asian glow” in humans show four times more DNA damage after a single dose of alcohol.
The study was published in the journal Nature earlier this month.
Professor Ketan (KJ) Patel who led the study said that some cancers develop due to DNA damage in stem cells, and drinking alcohol may increase the risk of that damage.
The “Asian flush” or “Asian glow” after consuming alcohol is a genetic condition thought to originate among the Han Chinese. I have it so I can’t drink alcohol. Business Insider had an article with video about this condition:
http://www.businessinsider.com/why-some-people-turn-red-drink-alcohol-2017-4
A recap of the video:
“Here’s why some people turn red when they drink. It’s a condition called “alcohol flush reaction.” Side effects include flushed skin, nausea, headache, and rapid heart beat.
The cause is a buildup of acetaldehyde in the body. Acetaldehyde is highly toxic and a known carcinogen. When alcohol hits the liver, it metabolizes into acetaldehyde.
Usually, it’s quickly converted to a safer form, acetate. But people with alcohol flush reaction are different. Their body turns alcohol into acetaldehyde faster. But their liver takes more time to turn acetaldehyde into acetate.
The results are: A less intense “buzz,” harsher side effects from acetaldehyde poisoning, and long-term, a higher risk of mouth and throat cancers.
Alcohol flush reaction is a genetic condition. It’s thought to originate among the Han Chinese, in central China. Over the centuries, it has spread throughout East Asia. An estimated 1/3 of East Asians have it.
Since the condition is genetic, there is no cure. The upside? Those afflicted often avoid excessive drinking and alcoholism.”