It seems strange that we’d be writing an article about the dangers of treating Asian flush given that our business is to do exactly that. The reason why we feel compelled to alert everyone to these dangers is that they are real and not many people seem to know about them. It is all well and good to profit in business, but there comes a time when ethics and the well being of your fellow Asian flush suffer should prevail. This is one of those times.
If you or any of your friends suffer from this condition, you’re probably well aware that there are many products available that will alleviate the facial redness that we all find embarrassing and annoying. Whether in pill form or liquid shot, the primary goal of most of these products is to prevent unwanted symptoms, similar to taking a painkiller to reduce a fever or headache. The treatment itself doesn’t address the underlying problem, but instead masks a reaction so that it ceases to cause discomfort for the sufferer.
This is all well and good if you simply want to go about your drinking unhindered by an unpleasant reaction, but we seldom stop to think whether masking the reaction is actually the right thing to do.
The human body is a highly sophisticated system that has evolved over countless millennia to look after itself. If we eat food that has gone rotten our bodies will make us vomit it out. Similarly, if someone who is allergic to peanuts accidentally eats a peanut, the body reacts violently as if to say “please don’t do that!”. It is clear from from this that our bodies know a lot of if things that our minds have yet to comprehend.
We’ve explained in previous articles that the Asian flush disorder is not an allergy per se, but rather a toxic reaction to a by-product of the metabolic process our bodies undergo when processing alcohol. Nevertheless, this reaction is our body telling us that we’re doing something wrong. This then begs the question – why is our body telling us this?
Cancer Risks
The words “cancer risk” has been thrown around so much these days that its no surprise that most people shrug their shoulders in indifference when they hear it. Everything from sugar to meat to mobile phones, things that are unavoidably integrated into our every day life, have been claimed to increase our susceptibility to developing cancer. In all of these cases the risk seems to go unnoticed by our bodies and it is only by virtue of subsequent scientific research that we have come to recognize the potential risks in each of these cases.
This then begs the question: what if our bodies did warn us of a particular risk? Should we pay more attention to this? What if the symptoms of Asian flush were actually our body’s urgent warning signal of an impending cancer risk?
As far out as this might seem, the reality may shock you. In the middle of 2009, the United States Department of Health and Human Services released an obscure health warning that seemingly slid under the radar of Asian alcohol drinkers worldwide. This health warning referenced multiple studies that conclusively found Asian flush sufferers to be at a significantly heightened risk of developing certain cancers. The cancers mentioned were predominantly of the digestive tract and esophagus, which happen to be some of the deadliest cancers that claim the lives of ten of thousands of Asian flush sufferers each year.
To ad further fuel to the fire, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) then came out with an independent study confirming these findings and warning heavily of exactly the same risks.
Asian Flush is a Warning Signal
Our bodies already knew what Governments and international research agencies are only now beginning to realize. We know this because the toxin that causes the red facial flushing in Asian flush sufferers, acetaldehyde, is the exact same toxin that these researchers have identified as being the cancer causing carcinogen. This toxin is not as prevalent in non-sufferers due to the presence of an enzyme that breaks it down in alcohol metabolism, i.e. this risk is specific to us and not all alcohol drinkers.
The Dangers of Treatments
The various pills available on the market today aim to mask the unwanted physical side effects we experience from our reaction to acetaldehyde. Some even claim to have been clinically tested to reduce acetaldehyde levels, but this is merely a reduction. Furthermore, if you look at the results of the testing you will see that the reduction is far from significant.
The bottom line is: If you have Asian flush and you drink alcohol, you are still subjecting yourself to high levels of the cancer causing carcinogen acetaldehyde, regardless of whether you are taking an acetaldehyde reducing supplement or not.
What Can You Do?
If you want to safeguard yourself against this risk then the best thing you can do is stop drinking alcohol. The same can be said about sugar, meat, mobile phones, etc. If you want to protect yourself from the cancer causing risks caused by these things, the best thing to do is to cut them out of your life. That said, it is understandable that many people will not want to do this and the same can be said about alcohol.
The entire social fabric of today’s society revolves around the consumption of alcohol. Whether it be a gathering of friends or a professional business meeting, sometimes avoiding alcohol altogether can have other social repercussions.
The key here is simply to be aware of the risks and we hope that our article has helped you achieve this end. If you would like to continue drinking alcohol without experiencing the unwanted side effects of Asian flush then by all means please give our product a try. But in doing so, please remember that you will merely be reducing your risk and not eliminating it. Furthermore, by masking the symptoms so well, you run the risk of becoming complacent and overlooking your body’s natural warning signal of a potential health risk.
We sincerely hope you take something from this article and please share it with everyone you know so that we can increase the awareness of this lesser talked about risk.
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