What should be paid attention to in preventing liver cancer? Two types of people should try to drink less alcohol in order to prevent liver cancer

Liver cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in my country, and is common in middle-aged men. Because of its high malignancy and rapid progression, patients generally do not feel any discomfort in the early stages, and once symptoms appear, they are often in the middle or late stages. We all know that excessive drinking is the cause of liver cancer, so many people are concerned about whether blushing after drinking makes it easier to get liver cancer?

Be careful if you blush after drinking

Studies have shown that alcohol metabolism in the human body is completed through acetaldehyde deoxygenase 2 (ALDH2). The function of ALDH2 in the human body is to oxidize acetaldehyde into acetic acid, which is not carcinogenic, and finally decompose it into carbon dioxide and water that are harmless to the human body and excreted from the body. However, when the normal gene of ALDH2 mutates, the enzyme will lose its activity, resulting in a more than 6-fold increase in the acetaldehyde concentration in the blood after drinking. Long-term alcoholism will accumulate acetaldehyde in the body, which may eventually lead to liver cancer. The results showed that among those with enzyme deficiency, those who drink more than 3 kilograms of alcohol per month have a 3.51-fold risk of liver cancer than normal gene carriers and non-drinkers; as the total amount of alcohol consumed by the former increases throughout their lives, their risk of liver cancer shows a clear upward trend. We all know that excessive drinking is the cause of liver cancer, so to prevent liver cancer, we should drink less.

Studies have found that carriers of the aldehyde deoxygenase 2 gene variant often experience neurological symptoms such as flushing, nausea and tachycardia after drinking. Therefore, if you have the above symptoms after drinking, you should be vigilant, quit drinking or minimize alcohol intake to prevent the occurrence of liver cancer.

Gene mutation linked to increased risk of liver cancer in alcoholics

Many people with hepatitis B or hepatitis B virus carriers drink alcohol for a long time. Do they all develop liver cancer? If the aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 gene in the HBV carriers who are addicted to alcohol for a long time is mutated, their risk of developing liver cancer will increase 52 times compared with normal people.

The metabolic process of alcohol in the body is mainly ethanol → acetaldehyde → acetic acid, among which acetaldehyde has obvious toxicity and carcinogenicity to animal liver cells. The function of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase 2 in the human body is to oxidize acetaldehyde into acetic acid, which is not carcinogenic, and finally decompose it into carbon dioxide and water that are harmless to the human body and excreted from the body. However, when the normal gene of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase 2 mutates, the enzyme will lose its activity, resulting in a more than 6-fold increase in the acetaldehyde concentration in the human blood after drinking, greatly increasing the risk of liver cell cancer.

The research team conducted a survey in the high-incidence areas of liver cancer in the province and found that among people carrying the acetaldehyde dehydrogenase 2 variant genotype, those who drink more than 3 kilograms of alcohol per month have a 3.51 times higher risk of liver cancer than those with normal genes and non-drinkers. What should be particularly noted is that if people with the acetaldehyde dehydrogenase variant genotype also carry the hepatitis B virus, and if they drink heavily for a long time, that is, their total alcohol consumption in their lifetime is more than 3 kilograms per year (drinking 1 kilogram of high-proof liquor every day for a year is 1 kilogram per year, and 3 kilograms per year equals 1095 kilograms of high-proof liquor), their risk of liver cancer is 52 times higher than normal people.