The doctors explained why people blush with alcohol

You need to drink in moderation.

In the liver, alcohol first under the action of the enzyme alcoholdehydrogenase turns into a toxic substance, acetaldehyde. Then acetaldehyde, fortunately, with the help of another enzyme, aldehyde dehydrogenase, is converted into harmless acetic acid.

Alas, not all he got from nature the ability to produce the aldehyde dehydrogenase in large quantities. Those who have never experienced a hangover, less fortunate — the majority among the Chinese, Koreans and Japanese, for example — are difficult to tolerate even small amounts of alcohol. Such people inherit from father and mother, and one mutant copy of the gene that encodes the enzyme, which their liver produces a nonfunctional version of the aldehyde dehydrogenase. If the mutant gene was only one of the parents is an enzyme of the liver of the child will work, but a hundred times weaker than if both copies were normal.

The carriers of defective copies of the gene encoding this enzyme, experience a hangover the next morning, and almost immediately after miss the Cup; the well-known symptoms — nausea, headache, weakness and redness of the skin. This effect has positive consequences: in Asia people drink much less and less likely to die from diseases associated with alcohol consumption.

There are drugs that can reduce the redness of the face, and in the media they are often called antihistamines. But to deal with the rush of blood to the face after the first drink are not suitable for all antihistamines. Suitable drugs against acid reflux: they block H2-histamine receptors of the cells lining the stomach that trigger the release of stomach acid. They have little side effects and are relatively safe, but they will remove only the most benign symptom of a deficiency of aldehyde dehydrogenase. Keep this in mind if you decide to use blockers of H2-histamine receptors to get rid of alcohol flushing.

In General, people with a deficiency of aldehyde dehydrogenase it is better not to mask the redness of medication, and drinking in moderation — even if your measure is very small.

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