Research suggests that blushing after a few drinks is a symptom of a genetic mutation and deficiency endemic to Taiwan, not an indication of a strong, healthy liver, as popular legend purports.
Stanford University School of Medicine researchers have found that a tendency to blush after drinking comparatively small quantities of alcohol is indicative of a condition called “aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 deficiency,” also known as “ALDH2 deficiency.”
When ethanol enters the human body, it is converted by a type of enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase to acetaldehyde, which is then converted to acetic acid by aldehyde dehydrogenase-2, or ALDH2.
ALDH2 deficiency is a genetic mutation that prevents the human body from quickly processing acetaldehyde.
The condition is prevalent in Asia and especially in Taiwan, where it manifests in almost half of the the nation’s population.
According to Chen Che-hong (陳哲宏), a senior research scientist at the school, ALDH2 deficiency is a dominant genetic trait common among members of the Han ethnicity, particularly those who originated along China’s coastline.
However, while this condition occurs in about 35 percent of the Chinese population, it occurs in about 47 percent of Taiwanese, the highest in the world, Chen said.
The mutation is not common in Aboriginal communities, he said.
Chen said that the predilection to blush after drinking alcohol occurs when an impeded metabolic system fails to process acetaldehyde, causing the substance to accumulate in the bloodstream.
As a result, blood vessels dilate and the heartbeat speeds up.
He said that the idea that rapid blushing after drinking as a sign of a strong liver is a pernicious myth.
The body’s failure to metabolize acetaldehyde causes headaches, heart palpitations, nausea and hangovers, as well as inducing cancerous mutations in humans, Chen said, adding that the WHO has been keeping it on its list of Group 1 carcinogens for years.
People with ALDH2 deficiency increases the risk of developing mouth and throat cancer by 50 times if they drink two glasses of wine per day, when compared with a person who does not drink, Chen said.
While Western doctors may say that two glasses of red wine are healthy, this does not apply to Taiwanese, due to the prevalence of ALDH2 deficiency, Chen said.
ALDH2 deficiency is easily detected by consuming an alcoholic drink in front of a mirror to check for blushing, a method that is about 90 percent accurate, the researcher said.
Genetic analysis provides the most precise diagnosis, but Chi Mei Hospital in Tainan is the only facility in Taiwan to offer such tests, Chen said.
The government has failed to adequately educate the public about the dangers of acetaldehyde, Chen said, urging authorities to make it a public health priority.
Since tobacco products and alcohol both contain acetaldehyde, Chen said users of those substances should quit them to protect their health.
A new drug designed to activate ALDH2 in the human body is being developed outside Taiwan and has entered phase one clinical trials, Chen said.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching