Hangovers- It's Not Your Fault

[Mulboyne]

Bloomberg: Hangovers Determined by Chemical-Processing Enzyme, Study Says
Low acetaldehyde (Pic courtesy of Mottanai Foundation)
July 14 (Bloomberg) -- How susceptible a person is to hangovers may be determined by an enzyme that helps them process the by-products of alcohol, according to a study to appear in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. Researchers at the Mitsukoshi Health and Welfare Foundation in Tokyo studied the DNA of 251 Japanese men and women and questioned them about their alcohol consumption and how frequently they get hangovers. The researchers, led by Masako Yokoyama, found that people whose enzyme for processing a chemical called acetaldehyde was inactive had a greater susceptibility to hangovers. Acetaldehyde is a toxic chemical produced when the body begins to break down alcohol. "The amount of drinking reported that led to a hangover was significantly less for both men and women" who had the inactive acetaldehyde-processing enzyme, Yokoyama said in a statement. The findings have added importance in Japan, where as much as 45 percent of the population has the inactive enzyme and drinking is part of business culture, Yokoyama said. "Going out drinking with various colleagues after work is an essential element of Japanese business society," Yokoyama said in the statement. "It is socially acceptable to get fairly drunk such occasions."

[Mulboyne]

Link may go "premium" so full article follows:

WSJ: 'Asian Flush' Spurs Quest for Cures
Han Fang Lim remembers the first time she had a drink with friends. She was 19 years old, and they were in a nightclub celebrating their college graduation. After just a quarter of a glass of beer, she found herself struggling to stay awake. "I was conscious, but I couldn't really walk, I wouldn't talk and my face was all red," Ms. Lim said. In later years, Ms. Lim, who is Chinese, tried alcohol a few more times, and the result was always the same: Just a few sips of wine would be enough to make her heart pound. The 26-year-old environmental engineer now avoids alcohol altogether.

Like millions of other Asian drinkers, Ms. Lim may have the Asian flush, a hereditary condition that makes her unable to process alcohol normally. With 40% of Asians having the deficient gene that causes this condition, known medically as severe acetaldehydemia, a few small companies are rushing to test new products that they say will alleviate flushing symptoms and allow this group to drink comfortably. Meanwhile, doctors warn that those who don't know about their underlying condition yet continue to drink may put themselves at a higher risk for alcohol-related diseases like liver or esophageal cancer.

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, most adults can handle as many as two drinks daily, with men able to safely metabolize more ethanol than women. However, for people with the Asian flush, a smaller amount of alcohol triggers an unacceptably high level of the toxin acetaldehyde. These drinkers can get red, blotchy skin, feel dizzy and nauseated, or have an irregular heartbeat. In a particularly severe case of the Asian flush, recorded in Japan, a 25-year-old man died of alcohol poisoning. His autopsy results showed a blood-alcohol level of 2.00 milligrams, though the concentration generally considered fatal ranges from 2.25 mg to 6.23 mg.

When alcohol is metabolized, it is broken down to acetaldehyde. That toxin is broken down further by an enzyme called ALDH2, producing acetic acid. Studies show that an inactive variant of ALDH2, common to many Asians, makes it difficult for drinkers to rid their bodies quickly of acetaldehyde. That inactive variant is found in 45% of Chinese and Japanese, 30% of Koreans, 10% of Thais and 1% of Filipinos, according to research first conducted in 1992 by Heinz Werner Goedde at Hamburg University. About 5% of these five groups have inherited the trait from both their parents, making them almost completely alcohol-intolerant.

While non-Asian drinkers can be more sensitive to alcohol depending on body weight and genetic factors, this specific condition is known to affect only Asians. According to Tamara Wall, a psychiatry professor at the University of California in San Diego, other genetic variants can cause similar, but less severe, reactions to alcohol. One variant is found in 90% of Asians and less than 10% of Caucasians, she said. Separately, some people are allergic to sulfites in wine, or sugars and other additives. Tetsuji Yokoyama, a senior researcher and epidemiologist at Japan's National Institute of Public Health, said symptoms of the Asian flush are a good predictor of whether the person has a deficient ALDH2 enzyme. And because it is possible to have the deficiency and not experience flush symptoms (and vice versa), many doctors recommend that certain Asians get tested for the gene.

The common advice physicians give to those with the Asian flush is to limit drinking. But drinkers haven't given up their quest for remedies. Algae pills, which can be purchased as nutritional supplements in health-food stores, have been used to protect the body from hangover symptoms. Many scientists, however, including those at the University of California, Berkeley's Public Health Department, are skeptical. Kenneth Krul, a biochemistry consultant based in San Diego, said that while massive doses of B-complex vitamins can be effective against hangovers in many people, it is "impossible" to enhance your body's processing of alcohol "if you don't have the enzyme." The Food and Drug Administration hasn't monitored dietary supplements since the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act was issued in 1994, so there are no controlled studies showing whether any existing products work, or whether they are healthy to take.

Dynamarketing Group Inc., San Diego, sells a product over the Internet called Cheerz (formerly known as Rebound), aimed at battling the effects of alcohol. The product combines succinic acid with known antioxidants like young barley grass and vitamin C. Spirit Sciences Inc. employs similar ingredients in RU-21, made in Russia and sold in General Nutrition Centers as well as online. Both products are marketed to treat hangover symptoms as well as the Asian flush. Meanwhile in South Korea, Edward Jung, an executive with Intellectual Ventures, is trying to create a pill that will exclusively treat the Asian flush. He sees a big market for such a product in Asia, where he says drugstores sell a vast array of herbal supplements for this purpose.

[tidbits]

Oh so that is called Asian Flush.. I used to have the same condition and even had rashes just after a few sips of beer/wine. But after many years, my body seems to react better now. Maybe is because I continue to drink frequently, in small quantity.

[Charles]

It never ceases to amaze me how much effort is expended in "proving" nihonjinron.

[SIZE="4"][B]Hangover Culprit Found[/SIZE][/B]

Acetaldehyde may be the culprit behind hangovers, according to new research from Japan.

Alcohol consumption is an integral part of many cultures, not least the Japanese business culture, according to Masako Yokoyama of the Mitsukoshi Health and Welfare Foundation and colleagues. The problem many East Asians have in drinking alcohol is that their livers have a mutant form of the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 (ALDH2), which in other people eliminates the acetaldehyde formed by ethanol metabolism, but often fails to do its job properly in East Asians, which means they suffer worse hangovers as this toxic compound stays in their system at higher concentrations than it would otherwise do so. Hangovers can have substantial economic drawbacks, leading sufferers to skip work, for instance.

"Many Japanese love the idea of group harmony," explains Yokoyama, "Going out drinking with various colleagues after work is an essential element of Japanese business society. It is socially acceptable to get fairly drunk on such occasions." Hiromasa Ishii, president of the Japanese Medical Society of Alcohol Studies and Drug Dependence and Professor Emeritus at Keio University in Tokyo, concurs. "Drinking alcoholic beverages with working colleagues after a customary ten-hour day at the office is an important part of business society in Japan, despite the fact that 40 to 45% of the Japanese people possess inactive ALDH2," he said. ..more..

[cstaylor]

I have no idea if this particular find is true, but I've seen my share of Japanese lightweights when out for a drink.

[Mike Oxlong]

Not sure about the whole nihonjinron thing in this case. I remember learning about the lack of said enzyme in East Asians back in uni.

[Charles]

Not sure about the whole nihonjinron thing in this case. I remember learning about the lack of said enzyme in East Asians back in uni.

Whether or not something has a basis in fact has little to do with it being a nihonjinron.

[FG Lurker]

It never ceases to amaze me how much effort is expended in "proving" nihonjinron.

[...]

[...] despite the fact that 40 to 45% of the Japanese people possess inactive ALDH2," he said.

This missing enzyme is the same reason many Japanese turn red when drinking. Some Caucasians have the same problem but it is a lot rarer.

[Mike Oxlong]

Whether or not something has a basis in fact has little to do with it being a nihonjinron.

It doesn't even seem like much in the way of new data, but rather a confirmation of old studies. It also neglects to mention that those in the far northern & southern extremes of Japan have higher levels of ALDH, and are thus stronger drinkers than their Central Japan countrymen. The 40-45% with inactive enzymes seems like it only covers those in the Kanto-Kansai region, and not an average figure for the entire nation...

[FG Lurker]

It doesn't even seem like much in the way of new data, but rather a confirmation of old studies. It also neglects to mention that those in the far northern & southern extremes of Japan have higher levels of ALDH, and are thus stronger drinkers than their Central Japan countrymen. The 40-45% with inactive enzymes seems like it only covers those in the Kanto-Kansai region, and not an average figure for the entire nation...

Chuck never lets good facts get in the way of a crazy rant though!

[Blah Pete]

Wasn't this enzyme discovered years ago and is also present in American Indians?

[FG Lurker]

Wasn't this enzyme discovered years ago and is also present in American Indians?

It's actually the lack of the enzyme that causes the problems, but yeah, this is old news...

[jingai]

Whether or not something has a basis in fact has little to do with it being a nihonjinron.

Well, the fact that this isn't about supposed biological differences between Japanese and the rest of the world demonstrates that it's not nihonjinron. This isn't about Japanese having different stomachs, but genetic commonalities among east asians.

[Charles]

Well, the fact that this isn't about supposed biological differences between Japanese and the rest of the world demonstrates that it's not nihonjinron. This isn't about Japanese having different stomachs, but genetic commonalities among east asians.

I would accept your point, if the article hadn't immediately launched into the supposedly-unique Japanese social aspects of drinking.

[jingai]

Fair enough. Also Nihonjin-ron could be *why* they are intellectually interested in studying this issue in the first place, even if the biological research is legitimate.

[Mulboyne]

Yomiuri: Red-faced tipplers face cancer risk

People whose faces turn red easily when they drink are more vulnerable to throat cancer, according to a study by the World Health Organization. In research published in the April issue of the British medical magazine, the Lancet Oncology, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which is affiliated to the WHO, reexamined the causal link between alcohol and cancer for the first time in 20 years, with the latest findings reflected in the study. According to the study, alcohol, or ethanol, is the most significant source of cancer. While an enzyme called ALDH2, a kind of aldehyde dehydrogenates, plays an important role in breaking down alcohol, the study pointed out that people with the enzyme poorly functioning due to partial deficiency increase the risk for throat cancer depending on the amount of alcohol, by up to 12 times more than those with the normal enzyme.