Asian drinking red face

While using antihistamines such as Zantac to prevent alcohol-induced flushing is commonplace, USC experts say prolonged off-label use may have serious health consequences. Daryl Davies , director of the Alcohol and Brain Research Laboratory at USC, said alcohol flush reaction is your body telling you to slow down and start hydrating. People who turn tomato red when they drink alcohol lack activity by a particular enzyme. The Asian flush is best known for creating a lobster-red face and neck when people drink alcohol, but the condition also results in a heightened heart rate, headache and nausea. Alcohol or ethanol is broken down or converted in the liver to acetaldehyde, a highly toxic compound that contributes to the hungover feeling.

Kane Lo flushes when he drinks, and while his mates might laugh at his red face and bloodshot eyes, they can't see the rash spreading across his chest or the throbbing headache kicking in. Alcohol doesn't give me a rash and I don't always flush red, but it often lifts my heartrate and brings on a headache. The older I get, the worse it feels, and that's made me curious about what Asian flush really is and whether anything can be done about it. It's thought that more than one in three people of East Asian heritage Japanese, Chinese and Korean flush after drinking alcohol, with varying severity.

But as it turns out, having an ugly photo on social media might not be a bad thing — especially when compared to the more serious repercussions of trying to mask that dreaded Asian Flush. Photo: Unsplash. What exactly is the Asian Flush?

Alcohol flush reaction is a condition in which a person develops flushes or blotches associated with erythema on the face, neck, shoulders, and in some cases, the entire body after consuming alcoholic beverages. The reaction is the result of an accumulation of acetaldehyde , a metabolic byproduct of the catabolic metabolism of alcohol , and is caused by an aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 deficiency. This syndrome has been associated with an increased risk of esophageal cancer in those who drink. Individuals who experience the alcohol flushing reaction may be less prone to alcoholism. Disulfiram , a drug sometimes given as treatment for alcoholism, works by inhibiting acetaldehyde dehydrogenase , causing a five to tenfold increase in the concentration of acetaldehyde in the body.