Is blush after drinking alcohol good for metabolism or alcoholism? A popular science article, people who are alcoholics may wish to read it

You must have heard such remarks in your life: People who blush easily after drinking have better alcohol metabolism and don’t get drunk after a thousand drinks!

　　But is this really the case? Is drinking blush good for metabolism or alcoholism?

　　Alcohol is a substance called ethanol, although it enters the stomach along with the mouth and esophagus. However, the human stomach has no effect of metabolizing alcohol, and alcohol is quickly absorbed into the blood.

　　Only less than 5% of alcohol will be excreted through the kidneys, respiratory system, etc. , and the rest of the alcohol will enter the blood circulation. Next, they start to travel with the blood and eventually enter the metabolic organ, which is the liver;

　　The metabolic process of ethanol is divided into three steps, namely ethanol-acetaldehyde-acetic acid, and finally the acetic acid is converted into carbon dioxide and water. This metabolic process is inseparable from two substances, namely ethanol secreted by the liver and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase . After alcohol is converted to acetaldehyde, acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, p450 in the liver, metabolizes it to acetic acid.

　　According to the current clinical data, the secretion capacity of Chinese alcohol dehydrogenase is almost the same . That is, ethanol can be rapidly metabolized called acetaldehyde. The real key to determining the amount of alcohol and whether alcohol metabolism is strong or not lies in the secretion of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase and its activity. The strong activity of aldehyde dehydrogenase is mainly related to genetics.

　　The gene of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase is ALDN2 , which is located in human chromosome 12. It has the ability of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase secretion and esterase activity , and participates in the metabolism of acetaldehyde. However, for most Chinese people, we actually lack this gene in our body , or carry a mutated allele .

　　Therefore, most Chinese ALDN2 enzyme activity is not strong. Ethanol is metabolized into acetaldehyde within a short time after entering the body, while acetaldehyde requires a long biotransformation to become acetic acid.

　　In this case, acetaldehyde can only continue to accumulate in the liver, waiting for the next step to decompose. And because ethanol and acetaldehyde both have the effect of dilating blood vessels.

　　Therefore, in the case of its continuous accumulation, it will promote the dilation of blood vessels on the surface of the drinker, the heart rate will increase, and the blood circulation speed will become faster and faster , and then there will be multiple symptoms of drunkenness such as flushing, rapid breathing, and heartbeat disorder .

　　If you already have similar symptoms and still haven't stopped drinking, alcoholism is waiting for you. As a result, patients may experience multiple symptoms such as difficulty breathing, nausea and vomiting, dizziness, and headache. In extremely severe cases, there may even be sudden acute heart failure, blood pressure drop, and shock. In China, people die every year from severe alcohol poisoning.

　　Moreover, even without alcoholism, acetaldehyde metabolism disorder means that acetaldehyde needs to be in contact with liver cells for a long time. It has a direct toxic effect on liver cells, can destroy liver cells, and alter cellular DNA expression. People who lack the ALDN2 gene in the body , long-term alcoholism will increase their risk of developing alcoholic liver disease, cirrhosis, and even cancer.

　　Therefore, from a clinical point of view, persuading people who drink and blush to drink is actually no different from indirect murder.

　　In fact, the harm of alcohol to the human body has already been confirmed in many ways. Even if the genes in the body are perfect, the chances of long-term alcoholism suffering from cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and chronic stomach diseases are relatively high. Therefore, everyone should be clearly aware of the dangers of alcohol, and it is necessary to quit drinking as soon as possible.