The blush would be an indicator of increased risk caused by alcohol in relation to esophageal cancer, which in Asian communities is very strong, the investigators reported the hopes of increasing awareness of this inherited trait manifested through flushing.
Since it is directly related to one third of the population of Japan, China and Korea, as it provides valuable information on health.
Alcohol is a known risk factor for a variety of cancers, including esophageal and even more serious.
Many people take a little red when they drink too much, this is a motivated by flushing a small amount of alcohol, which is due to a deficiency of an enzyme that helps metabolize alcohol, called ALDH2.
People with a severe deficiency of the enzyme does not tend to drink because it makes them feel very sick, also feel nausea and palpitations.
But people with a partial deficiency inherited a bad copy of the enzyme-producing gene instead of two, may increase risk, a series of studies by Dr. Akira Yokoyama of Japan Kurihama Alcohol Center, found that these people have six to 10 times more likely to develop esophageal cancer than people who drink a comparable amount, but lack the enzyme deficient.
Up to 8 percent of the world’s population has a deficiency of the enzyme, so that even a small number is also the risk and avoid alcohol, avoid deaths from esophageal cancer that could be substantially reduced, the researchers said.