Risk of alcohol-related facial flushing. Learn about facial flushing and drink

Some people's faces turn very red when they drink alcohol.  How about you?  This is due to alcohol-related facial flushing(facial redness).  People with severe alcohol-related facial flashes are at risk for fatty liver disease and various cardiovascular diseases.  In this post, we will learn about the risks of alcohol-related facial flushing.

Risk of alcohol-related facial flushing. Learn about facial flushing and drink with caution!

References

• April 17, 2024 Korea’s Health Chosun
• Korea News 1, November 30, 2023
• Korea's Weekly Chosun, October 31, 2023

 

Alcohol-related facial flushing meaning

• When alcohol enters our body, it is converted into a toxic substance called acetaldehyde.
• Our body needs acetaldehyde-decomposing enzyme to break it down.
• Patients with alcohol-related facial flushing lack acetaldehyde-decomposing enzyme in their bodies.
• If there is a lack of enzymes, blood circulation is promoted to excrete toxic substances.
• At this time, the face, where more capillaries are distributed than other areas, becomes particularly red.
• Genetically, Korean/Chinese/Japanese people lack the function of acetaldehyde decomposition enzyme compared to Western people.

 

Risk of alcohol-related facial flushing

These people are advised not to drink alcohol at all for the following reasons.

• Due to lack of alcohol-metabolizing enzymes, toxic substances in the body increase rapidly even with a small amount of drinking.
• People whose faces turn red easily are more likely to have liver diseases such as fatty liver.
• The risk of fatty liver disease in drinkers with alcohol-related hot flashes is 2.35 times that of non-drinkers (for drinkers without alcohol-related hot flashes, the risk of fatty liver disease is 1.9 times that of non-drinkers).

Fatty liver is not the only problem.

• As the concentration of acetaldehyde in the blood increases, HDL cholesterol levels decrease (HDL cholesterol, called ‘good cholesterol’, removes excessive cholesterol, the main cause of vascular disease).
• If you are born with a lack of acetaldehyde decomposition ability, your risk of developing cardiovascular diseases such as ‘variant angina’ caused by vasoconstriction increases.
• People who blush after one or two drinks have a 1.34 times higher risk of developing angina or myocardial infarction than people who do not blush (Hanyang University Emergency Medicine Research Team)
• If a person whose face turns red also smokes, the risk of developing cardiovascular disease is 2.6 times higher.
• Therefore, people with severe alcohol-related facial flushing are at risk of cardiovascular diseases such as angina pectoris.

 

Precautions for patients with alcohol-related facial flushing

• When time passes and your red face becomes pale again, people mistake it for being sober.
• However, this is due to decreased sensitivity to alcohol and a dulled body response.  In fact, it is the result of our body adapting to drinking situations.
• The return of your complexion is a sign that you have drank too much.
• If you must drink alcohol, drink water frequently while drinking to lower the alcohol level in your body.

In this post, we learned about the risks of alcohol-related facial flushing.  Please remember this carefully and take good care of your health