Drinkers’ ‘Flush’ Signals High Blood
Pressure
If your face turns red after a few drinks, it could be a sign of
added risk for alcohol-linked high blood pressure, new research
suggests.
It was already known that excessive drinking is a risk factor for
high blood pressure, say researchers reporting online in the journal
Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. Experts have also known
that facial flushing after drinking is tied to higher sensitivity or
even intolerance to alcohol.
In the new study, the South Korean research team examined the medical
records of more than 1,700 men and divided them into three groups:
non-drinkers, people whose faces flushed after drinking, and drinkers
who didn't have the flushed-face reaction.
"Flushers" were more apt to have drinking-related high blood pressure
than non-flushers, the research found, and the risk of high blood
pressure was much higher among flushers who had more than four drinks
per week.
"Facial flushing after drinking is always considered as a symptom of
high alcohol sensitivity or even intolerance to alcohol, unless a
patient is taking special medicine," said study author Jong Sung Kim,
head of the department of family medicine at Chungnam National
University School of Medicine in South Korea.
"The facial flushing response to drinking usually occurs in a person
who cannot genetically break down acetaldehyde, the first metabolite of
alcohol," Kim explained.
According to the authors, facial flushing after drinking could serve
as a signal for a greater risk of alcohol-linked high blood pressure.
Based on the new data, doctors should "consider evaluating their
patients' flushing response to alcohol, as well as drinking amount, in
daily routine care," Kim said.
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