Measuring how well a person is aging can be as simple as standing on one leg @MayoClinic #neuromuscular
Why Your Face Gets Beet Red When You Drink @ClevelandClinic #inflammation
It may come on in those first few sips of alcohol. Or maybe you’re hit with a hot flash whenever you’re a few drinks in. But whenever you drink, you seem to experience a sudden sensation of warmth, and your face, neck and upper chest become covered in red patches and blotchy skin.
Is facial flushing a sign that you can’t handle your alcohol? Or is this a symptom of something more severe? Dermatologist Alok Vij, MD, explains just what causes facial flushing, along with some truth behind some common misconceptions.
What causes your face to turn red when you drink alcohol?
There are a couple of different root causes for facial flushing. More technically termed the “alcohol flush reaction,” this occurs because your body either can’t fully digest the alcohol you’re consuming or because your body is having an inflammatory response to drinking alcohol.
“Your face may flush from alcohol for two reasons: Because of an enzyme deficiency or because of rosacea,” says Dr. Vij. “Both are tied to your ethnicity.”
Enzyme deficiency
Many Asian populations, specifically 35% to 45% of East Asians, have a deficiency in alcohol dehydrogenase, the enzyme that breaks down a specific substance in alcohol called acetaldehyde.
“Alcohol is toxic to cells, and when it gets into the cells of your blood vessels, it makes them dilate,” explains Dr. Vij. “This reddens the skin and can make you feel warm.”
But without enough of this enzyme, you can end up having too much acetaldehyde in your body, and this makes alcohol reach toxic levels much earlier in your cells. This results in your skin becoming flushed.
Rosacea
Fair-skinned people of Northern European backgrounds who flush when they drink may have some degree of rosacea.
“This very common skin condition is marked by vasomotor instability or hyperactivity,” Dr. Vij explains further. “That means lots of things can dilate your blood vessels: alcohol, chocolate, hot beverages and spicy foods — basically, all the good things in life.”
Should I be worried?
You may be asking yourself this question if you’ve ever experienced facial flushing. On the surface, facial flushing might feel cosmetically embarrassing at most and may not come with any other dangerous symptoms. For those with an enzyme deficiency, facial flushing can occasionally be experienced with increased onset of nausea or vomiting because of your body’s inability to fully digest the alcohol you’re consuming.
For the most part, these factors are mostly harmless. But because alcohol is a cellular toxin, anyone who drinks excessively increases their risk for oral cancer and esophageal cancer.
“Alcohol most frequently passes through these sites,” states Dr. Vij. “Toxicity and DNA damage can build up in cells and, eventually, a cancer can form.”
But recent studies report that those who get an alcohol flush because of an enzyme deficiency are also at heightened risk of digestive, liver and respiratory cancers. These populations are more vulnerable to alcohol’s toxicity, as it’s processed and later eliminated in:
- Your gastrointestinal (GI) tract, especially your stomach, where alcohol is absorbed.
- Your liver, where alcohol is sent after it’s absorbed by your stomach.
- Your lungs, where alcohol in your blood is released in your breath.
Is rosacea linked to cancer?
“We don’t think of rosacea as a precancerous disease,” Dr. Vij clarifies. “The biggest problems rosacea causes are a bulbous nose, like W.C. Fields had, and eye inflammation.”
(It was rosacea — not alcoholism — that made the storied comedian’s nose look large, red and bumpy, because of an overgrowth of the sebaceous glands, Dr. Vij adds.)
In addition, rosacea can make your eyes feel itchy, dry and chronically irritated. These eye symptoms can be managed with anti-inflammatory medication.
“We typically prescribe oral antibiotics like doxycycline or minocycline, often at lower doses than are required to kill bacteria,” he continues.
How to prevent facial flushing when drinking
If an alcohol flush makes you feel self-conscious when you drink, certain treatments can help:
- Topical medications: Medicines like brimonidine (Mirvaso®) can block blood vessels in your skin from dilating.
- Laser treatments: A series of laser treatments can shrink the superficial blood vessels in your skin. “You usually need three to 10 treatments to get the full effect, but it can last for years, and prevent broken blood vessels in the later stages of rosacea,” notes Dr. Vij.
But because these medications and laser treatments are considered cosmetic, they aren’t typically covered by insurance.
Are some types of alcohol more likely to cause flushing?
So, if your face flushes, are specific kinds of alcohol to blame? And can you avoid some but not others as an at-home treatment approach to facial flushing?
“It’s really patient-specific. Some people with rosacea flush more with red wine; others flush more with hard liquor,” says Dr. Vij.
If you have rosacea and keep track of what happens when you drink, you may be able to find your triggers. But if facial flushing is an issue for you at all, avoiding alcohol in all its forms might be the next best and most equitable solution.
“If flushing bothers you, and you know alcohol is a trigger, the easiest and most cost-effective solution is to avoid it,” suggests Dr. Vij.
Each body is different. Therefore each rehabilitation must be different. #horizonptflint #physiotherapy
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𝐒𝐨, 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞?
At Horizon Physical Therapy, we understand that no two bodies are the same, and therefore, no two rehabilitation programs should be the same either.
That’s why we put 𝐲𝐨𝐮 first by creating a personalized treatment plan tailored to meet your unique needs.
We believe in the power of individualized therapy, and we know it can make a difference in your recovery journey.
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Christmas, shortest day, need my mum!! @motherandbaby 🤪
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motherandbaby- With the school holidays starting, let’s think about the types of holidays we really need 🌞
#schoolholidays #summerholidays #mumlife4h 
ahappyhome__So hard to choose! I want them all! Maybe a week without making decisions 🙌
CAREN System helps patients with neurological conditions live better lives @ClevelandClinic
Purple porridge @annabelkarmel @motherandbaby
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- If you’re up for a breakfast change for your little one, try this no-fail Purple Porridge by cookbook author and child food expert @annabelkarmel. It’s an easy four step recipe. 👩🍳
Packed with nutritious oats for iron and zinc to strengthen the immune system, and sweet blueberries rich in vitamin C and antioxidants to support brain development. It’s a tasty and wholesome start to their day! 💜👶🏻🫐 #motherandbaby
“Soon I’ll be able to prescribe music therapy for my patients” @DrPunamKrishan #BBCMorningLive
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On Friday’s #BBCMorningLive Dr Punam’s looking at the latest health news including how music could help people with dementia and that scientists may have found the cause of Multiple Sclerosis. If you have any health questions, email us morninglive@bbc.co.uk or reply below
Alcohol has risks. We must all aim to minimise those risks. @DrPaddy_Barrett preventative cardiologist @HealthBlackrock
Alcohol is a toxin.
Alcohol is a factor in1:
30% of suicides
40% of fatal burn injuries
50% of fatal drownings
50% of homicides
65% of fatal falls
29% of fatal road traffic accidents
Globally, alcohol is responsible for 3 million deaths per year; in the United States, it is the third leading cause of preventable death2 3.
It is hard to see the upside when you see these figures.
So let’s go a little deeper.
First off, I drink alcohol. Not a lot. But I do drink.
So any comments made here are not some puritanical position on alcohol but reflections on the data that exist in the literature.
Multiple studies have demonstrated that excess alcohol consumption, usually defined as consuming greater than 2 to 4 drinks per day, is associated with worse outcomes and a greater likelihood of dying when compared to someone who drinks less than 2 to 4 drinks per day4.
In the study shown above, females start to accrue an increased risk at greater than two drinks per day on average and males at greater than four drinks per day.
These findings shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.
Surprisingly, on average, individuals who consume less than two drinks per day appear to have better outcomes than those who do not drink at all. This is where things start to get a little counterintuitive, and the story of alcohol being beneficial for you starts to appear.
This relationship is known as a ‘U’ shaped curve where those in the middle have the best outcomes, and those on the edges have worse outcomes. A kind of ‘Goldilocks’ relationship; “Not too hot. Not too cold. Just right.”
How might we explain this?
Enter the darling of the 1990s, Resveratrol. This compound in red wine spawned the mantra that red wine was ‘good for your heart’. This was based on research that suggested that it might reduce cholesterol levels, among other things.
But to consume the levels of Resveratrol tested in some of the animal studies that demonstrated benefit, you would have to drink 40 litres of wine…… Per day.
Not exactly a feasible strategy. Even with the best will in the world.
Let’s look at a more plausible explanation.
Data on alcohol consumption and outcomes are almost always based on observational data, not randomised controlled trials. This means that other factors or ‘confounders’ may explain the difference between the groups, not the alcohol consumption alone.
When you look at the trials that suggest a benefit of modest alcohol consumption, you will often find that this group tend to exercise more, smoke less, be in a higher socioeconomic bracket etc. This is referred to as a ‘healthy user bias’ and is likely to explain the difference between the groups.
Most trials try to correct or adjust for these confounders, but in truth, it is very hard to do. A recent publication looked at this problem and attempted to (as much as possible) correct for these ‘healthy user’ bias factors and then compare outcomes between alcohol consumption groups. The results were a little more in line with what we might expect.
Those in the lowest alcohol consumption category had the best lifestyle factors overall. When these healthy factors were corrected for, any benefit seen with modest alcohol consumption disappeared. What remained was a linear relationship between alcohol consumption and coronary artery disease5. Much more what you might expect.
Research like this and other studies is where the more recent media reports of ‘any’ alcohol being bad for you have come.
So, alcohol is a toxin. But, as Paracelsus notes:
“The dose makes the poison.”
Even water consumed to excess can be lethal.
We know that excess alcohol consumption is harmful. But I don’t think there was any great uncertainty around that point.
The key takeaway is that modest alcohol consumption is unlikely to be ‘beneficial’ to you. As much as you loved the idea that red wine was good for your heart, we can say with reasonable confidence that this is not the case.
The real question we need to answer is whether consuming modest amounts of alcohol is considerably worse for you when it comes to heart disease and death from any cause.
Based on the literature to date, it seems that the incremental risk for modest amounts of weekly alcohol consumption is likely to be small. But that doesn’t mean there are no downsides.
Sleep
One of the main reasons I significantly reduced my alcohol consumption was its effect on my sleep. If I drink more than one drink, I find that the quality of my sleep gets worse. I am much more likely to wake in the middle of the night and feel the effects the following day. But that’s just my personal experience.
Although alcohol is likely to make you fall asleep faster, it impacts your sleep quality6. Additionally, alcohol also reduces the percentage of REM sleep a person gets overnight7.
A workaround for me is to consume any alcohol during the daytime, so my sleep is unlikely to be affected, and if I am going to have a drink, I make sure it is worthwhile. I.e. I am with friends, or it is a high-quality drink. No more drinks on airplanes for me. Mainly because you lose about 30% of your sense of smell and taste in a pressurised cabin and therefore you are less likely to enjoy your drink8. Why do you think they serve you tomato juice and the fact that you think it’s tolerable?!
Humans have been consuming alcohol as far back as the ancient Egyptians, and some evidence suggests the Chinese were consuming alcohol as far back as 7000 B.C. So I don’t see alcohol disappearing any time soon.
The question we all need to ask is:
How much are we realistically drinking on a daily or weekly basis &
Is it likely to be doing us harm?
Only you can answer that question.
The only way to be certain you are doing no harm is to eliminate alcohol entirely. But life is full of risks, some of which we can control, some we cannot.
And some risks are worth taking.
Want to eliminate all road traffic accidents worldwide?
Simple.
Ban cars.
But at what cost?
The risks of driving are a risk most of us are willing to take.
Alcohol has risks.
We must all aim to minimise those risks.
Whatever that means for you, only you can decide.
Mokdad, A.H.; Marks, J.S.; Stroup, D.F.; and Gerberding, J.L. Actual causes of death in the United States, 2000. JAMA 291(10):1238–1245, 2004. Erratum in JAMA 293(3):298, 2005.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Alcohol and Public Health: Alcohol-Related Disease Impact (ARDI). Annual Average for United States 2011–2015 Alcohol-Attributable Deaths Due to Excessive Alcohol Use, All Ages.
Alcohol Dosing and Total Mortality in Men and Women: An Updated Meta-analysis of 34 Prospective Studies. Arch Intern Med.2006;166(22):2437–2445. doi:10.1001/archinte.166.22.2437
Biddinger KJ, Emdin CA, Haas ME, et al. Association of Habitual Alcohol Intake With Risk of Cardiovascular Disease. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(3):e223849. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.3849
Britton, A., Fat, L.N. & Neligan, A. The association between alcohol consumption and sleep disorders among older people in the general population. Sci Rep 10, 5275 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-62227-0
Ebrahim IO, Shapiro CM, Williams AJ, Fenwick PB. Alcohol and sleep I: effects on normal sleep. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2013 Apr;37(4):539-49. doi: 10.1111/acer.12006.
Burdack-Freitag, Andrea & Bullinger, Dino & Mayer, Florian & Breuer, Klaus. (2010). Odor and taste perception at normal and low atmospheric pressure in a simulated aircraft cabin. Journal für Verbraucherschutz und Lebensmittelsicherheit. 6. 95-109. 10.1007/s00003-010-0630-y.
Blackrock Health starting drone delivery for medical supplies
Blackrock Health, Blackrock Clinic, through a partnership with healthcare technology company Medtronic and medical drone delivery partners Apian and Wing, will begin receiving medical supplies via drone delivery in the coming days.
The partnership has been designed to trial faster, more reliable, and sustainable medical logistics – supporting patients as they receive the care they need, sooner. Medical drone deliveries have the potential to create more efficient healthcare systems, with less wastage of medical supplies, and more space for patient-facing care facilities as providers receive what they need, when they need it. The program will run over the next several months.
“At Blackrock Health, innovation is at the core of what we do, and this partnership is a prime example of the opportunities that exist when integrating technology into healthcare industry, with an added benefit of supporting our commitment to sustainability,” shared Dr. Caroline Whelan, CEO of Blackrock Health “We are excited by the possibilities that come with this drone delivery service, and hope to expand this beyond receiving medical supplies, by extending use to other services in time between our hospitals.”
Currently, hospitals depend on road vehicles to transport medical supplies to hospitals or healthcare centres, but urban locations experience frequent delays due to congestion, as well as associated higher carbon emissions. Wing’s drones, which are being used in this programme, are lightweight and electric, and can make quicker, more reliable deliveries than traditional modes of transport, as seen in its more than 350,000 commercial deliveries across the globe. They will fly more direct routes and at speeds up to approximately 100 km per hour, avoiding the traffic congestion on Dublin’s roads.
To learn more about the partnership, visit Apian’s and Wing’s newsrooms
“Soon I’ll be able to prescribe music therapy for my patients” @DrPunamKrishan
BBC Morning Live
@BBCMorningLive
·
On Friday’s #BBCMorningLive Dr Punam’s looking at the latest health news including how music could help people with dementia and that scientists may have found the cause of Multiple Sclerosis. If you have any health questions, email us morninglive@bbc.co.uk or reply below
Healthaware 