Asian Flush and CANCER

Asian glow happens to certain people of Asian descent after they have consumed alcohol

March 31st, 2016

Episode 8: Asian flush, also widely known as Asian glow happens to certain people of Asian descent after they have consumed alcohol. The Asian flush affects about 36% percent of Northeast Asians, primarily Chinese, Japanese and Koreans. The Asian flush is due to the body detecting a threat and triggering an immune response. When people drink alcohol, the liver has to break down a chemical called ethanol. The liver does this using two enzymes, ADH and ALDH-2. However, the problem arises when people have a mutated ALDH2 gene. As a result, people with this mutation accumulate a toxic substance called acetaldehyde at a level about 6 TIMES HIGHER than normal people.