The Asian Flush"Asian flush" is common in East Asians, with approximately 30 to 50% of Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans showing characteristic physiological responses to drinking alcohol that includes facial flushing, nausea, headaches and a fast heart rate.https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Alcohol_flush_reaction
More than one in three people with East Asian heritage (Chinese, Japanese and Korean) experience facial flushing when drinking beer, wine or spirits. In Asian populations, it is due to an inherited deficiency in one of the enzymes involved in the breakdown of alcohol: aldehyde dehydrogenase.
The build-up of acetaldehyde is what causes blood vessels to dilate and the face to turn red - the so-called “Asian flush syndrome”. The problem goes beyond aesthetics: Acetaldehyde is more toxic than alcohol and a known cancer-causing agent.
The resulting acetaldehyde is metabolized to nontoxic molecules by another enzyme called aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). If acetaldehyde is not metabolized efficiently, it can cause release of histamine and thereby trigger flushing and other unpleasant symptoms.
"Asian flush" is common in East Asians, with approximately 30 to 50% of Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans showing characteristic physiological responses to drinking alcohol that includes facial flushing, nausea, headaches and a fast heart rate.
Who might have alcohol intolerance? People of East Asian descent are more likely to have the inherited genetic mutation that causes alcohol intolerance, so they develop the condition at higher rates.
In Korea, however, it is customary to always pour and receive drinks with both hands or at least have both hands touching the glass as a sign of respect, especially if the person pouring your drink is an elder. Out of respect for an elder, Koreans usually turn their face away and cover their mouth while drinking.
Some Asians get an allergic reaction to alcohol in a phenomenon called 'Asian flush. ' It's caused by a genetic mutation preventing the breakdown of toxins in alcoholic beverages. As a result, the redness, nausea and inflammation can make drinking an isolating experience.
Medicines called histamine-2 (H2) blockers can control facial flushing. These drugs work by slowing the breakdown of alcohol to acetaldehyde in your bloodstream. Common H2 blockers include: Pepcid.
There is no way to change the genes or enzyme deficiency. The only way to prevent this red flush and the associated risk for high blood pressure is to avoid or limit the intake of alcohol. Some people use over the counter antihistamines to reduce the discoloration. However, this is not advisable.
Strictly speaking it's not that they are more 'drunk' in a conventional sense - it's just that they convert alcohol at a faster rate but are then unable to fully metabolize it, which in turn causes the dilation of blood vessels, headaches and nausea - which all can be mistaken for being drunk with as little as one ...
An aldehyde-dehydrogenase (ALDH2) deficiency is a biological curb on excess alcohol-drinking. This enzyme deficiency is very common amongst Oriental people while it is relatively rare for most other populations.
Why is that? Why are Asians allergic to alcohol in greater numbers than other groups? This is a condition that mostly affects East Asians in particular. According to this study, more than 36% of East Asians, primarily Koreans, Japanese, and Chinese people, suffer from this peculiar condition.
If a person has red flushing after drinking alcohol, this may signal an increased risk for serious health issues such as high blood pressure or certain types of cancer.
In summary, the question of how long does alcohol flush reaction last does not have a definitive answer. It can take anywhere from under an hour after your last drink to a day or two later. There are a wide array of factors influencing exactly how long your systems will persist after drinking alcohol.
Though the redness can go down, over time it can lead to a permanent enlargement of the blood vessels and visible thread veins on the skin.
Two studies did report that subjects with Asian descent, possessing the ALDH2*2 allele, typically report significantly worse hangovers, and are more likely to experience hangovers at relatively lower alcohol consumption levels.
Caucasians have a higher rate of current alcohol use (at the time of the 2013 NSDUH) than any other race demographic, with 57.7% of individuals aged 12 and older reporting past-month alcohol consumption.
Belarus, a country that drinks the most liters of pure alcohol than any other country in the world, was also classified as having one the riskiest pattern of drinking.
In Korea, whenever you receive something, whether it's a gift or a drink, it is considered polite to use two hands. So when someone is pouring you a drink, you should hold out your glass or shot with both hands. This goes for when you pour someone else a drink as well.
Koreans believed drinking etiquette is important. When people become of age to drink alcohol, they are taught how to drink with other people by elders, because Korean ancestors thought that pouring and receiving drinks was important over the bowl.
Asian People
This DNA sequence, or at least in relation to alcohol use, can mean that Asians generally avoid alcohol consumption more than other races.
Relevant paragraph from Wikipedia from the article on body odor below, but the TL;DR is that there's a gene called ABCC11 that is non-functional in 80 to 95 percent of East Asians. That allele determines both apocrine sweat gland size and activity, concentration of protein in apocrine sweat, and, oddly, wet-type vs.
The frequencies of the A and G alleles vary markedly across different ethnic groups. The A allele is very common in East Asians, and as expected, most people in this population don't need to use deodorant. And so they don't use it—it's estimated that only 7% of North East Asians regularly use deodorant.
This is due to a deficiency within an enzyme called ALDH2, which breaks down alcohol in the liver. Variations in the genes of certain enzymes cause the afflicted to metabolize alcohol less effectively. The flush affects East Asians, and about 30% to 50% of Chinese, Japanese and Koreans react to drinking by getting red.