Does blushing after drinking alcohol increase the risk of esophageal cancer?

The onset of esophageal cancer is caused by many factors. Studies have shown that long-term drinking can induce esophageal cancer to a certain extent. People who blush easily after drinking are more likely to develop esophageal cancer.

Blushing after drinking is caused by temporary dilation of blood vessels under the skin. Such people have highly efficient alcohol dehydrogenase in their bodies, which can quickly convert alcohol in the blood into acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde has the function of dilating capillaries, which causes the face to turn red. Some people are born with less enzymes in their bodies. After drinking, alcohol will dilate blood vessels and make them blush easily, which is what we usually call "getting drunk easily".

In addition to alcohol dehydrogenase, the human body also has a substance called acetaldehyde dehydrogenase. People who blush after drinking only have alcohol dehydrogenase, but lack or cannot function normally, which will cause alcohol metabolism disorder, resulting in rapid accumulation of acetaldehyde in the body and delayed metabolism, so the blushing time will be longer. Compared with people who turn pale after drinking, acetaldehyde stays in the body longer and has a greater toxic effect.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer under the World Health Organization conducted an experiment to evaluate the causal relationship between alcohol and cancer. The results showed that people with aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 gene defects who drink two glasses of beer a day will increase their risk of esophageal cancer by 6 to 10 times, which means that the probability of esophageal cancer in people with this defect will double with the increase of alcohol intake.