If this happens to you when you drink alcohol, you should stop immediately

published 25 September 2017

You got on it this weekend, didn’t ya? You and your mates (or your ‘squad’ if you’re insufferable) hit the town, painted it a new colour.

But there was something wrong with Bogsy, wasn’t there? There always is. Whenever he drinks, he goes red. Big patchy marks all over his face and neck. A big lightweight rash. His new nickname is Blotchy.

But seriously, he needs to stop drinking, because according to researchers in South Korea, people who get flush in the face after knocking back a few pints are at serious risk of alcohol-related hypertension.

Or, for those of you not well-versed in medical speak - alcohol-related high blood pressure. Treating yourself to a bit of this means that you’re putting major strain on your blood vessels, elevating your chance of a heart attack or stroke. Bad News Bears, basically.

When you chin a pint, you legend, your body absorbs a toxin called acetaldehyde, which is then broken down in your over-worked, under-paid liver. But if, like Blotchy, you break out in a red rash, then it means your body is taking more time than usual to break down the compound. This means the acetaldehyde stays in your body for longer, and that’s not the best thing in the world.

Dr Jong Sung Kim of the Chungnam National University School of Medicine told the Daily Mail:

“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.

“The facial flushing response to drinking usually occurs in a person who cannot genetically break down acetaldehyde.

“To my knowledge, there has been no detailed research that has analysed the relationship between drinking and hypertension while considering individual responses to alcohol.”

The research involved analysing the medical records of 1,763 Korean men, and they found that 527 of them suffered from flushes, 948 didn’t and 288 were non-drinkers.

Dr Kim said:

“After adjusting for age, body mass index, exercise status, and smoking status, the risk of hypertension was significantly increased when flushers consumed more than four drinks per week.

“In contrast, in non-flushers, the risk increased with consuming more than eight drinks per week.”

Essentially, if this happens to you, you probably want to cut down on your drinking a tad. Think how embarrassing it would be if you not only lost the boat race, but also had a heart attack. EM-BARRA-ZZIINNNGG!

(Image: iStock)