Forty percent of East Asians, including Chinese, Korean, and Japanese people, flush and feel nauseated when they drink alcohol. The reason is a variant in the ALDH2 gene. People who experience "Asian flush" are at higher risk for cancer of the esophagus, one of the deadliest cancers. Only 16% live beyond five years after diagnosis.

• When people who do not have the variant drink, their bodies release an enzyme that breaks ethanol down into a carcinogen, which in turn breaks down into acetate, making the carcinogen harmless.
• Those with the variant do not release the chemical necessary to render the carcinogen harmless so it builds up into their bodies, and they experience nausea, flushing, and heart palpitations.
• This reaction usually discourages them from drinking alcohol. However, many young Asians with the gene try to get around the reaction by taking anti-histamines or other drugs.

"Some people talk about Asian flush as an embarrassing thing," said Philip Brooks, a molecular neurobiologist at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. "Our point is that it's not just embarrassing. There is a real risk here. ... It increases your risk of esophageal cancer for the same amount of alcohol consumed, compared to someone who is able to fully metabolize the acetaldehyde."

Labels: genetics

Posted By: Jane St. Clair