Download East Asians and Native Americans

East Asians and Native Americans
Many East Asians and Native Americans have a form of alcohol dehydrogenase that is more efficient at
turning alcohol into acetaldehyde (a compound toxic to the human body) than that of people from other
genetic backgrounds. The result is that these people end up with large amounts of acetaldehyde in their
bodies whenever they drink alcohol. This acetaldehyde causes their faces to flush and leads to
headaches, nausea, vomiting, heart palpitations and other extreme physical unpleasantness. This
reaction to alcohol is sometimes referred to as the flush syndrome.
The symptoms of flush syndrome are exactly the same as the symptoms caused in people who take the
anti-drinking medication Antabuse . This drug also causes a build-up of acetaldehyde within the body. As
many as 50% of people of Japanese descent are estimated to experience flush syndrome. Flush
syndrome is more severe in some individuals than others. It is theorized that individuals with severe flush
syndrome do not develop alcohol problems because they find drinking alcohol to be extremely
unpleasant.
In addition, although most individuals use a form of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase called ALD2 to
metabolize the acetaldehyde which results from alcohol metabolism. Many East Asians and Native
Americans produce a form of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase called ALD2*2 which is far less efficient at
breaking down acetaldehyde. ALD2*2 is only about 8% as efficient as ALD2 at metabolizing
acetaldehyde. Again this leads to higher levels of this toxic compound in the body.