“When I drink, the skin in my face and even all the way down to my waist will start to turn red,” says Patrick McMahon, a 30-year-old education director from Seattle, who’s half-Japanese. “I think the blood vessels dilate and I get very flushed. It’s often mistaken for a sunburn.”
That response is typical for about a third of people from East Asian descent, says Philip J. Brooks, an investigator with the Division of Metabolism and Health Affects at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
“It happens predominantly in individuals of Japanese, Chinese or Korean descent,” he says. “People who have this will get a facial flush and a headache and will feel nauseous at the time they’re drinking. And it’s not just flushing. They’ll also get an increased heart rate. It’s a pretty unpleasant experience.”
Asian Flush Cancer Risk
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