title: Acute reactions to alcohol.
abstract: Where the experience of alcohol is unpleasant because of adverse reactions to small amounts, alcohol consumption is likely to be low and alcohol dependence rare. This is shown by many studies of Asian subjects who experience the alcohol flush reaction (AFR) due to inherited aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) deficiency. Alcohol reactions are less common and on average less severe in non-Asian subjects, but they do occur and can affect alcohol consumption. Information about alcohol reactions and their consequences in Europeans is reviewed, and such reactions are compared with those caused by mitochondrial ALDH deficiency in Asians.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Royal Pr ince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Whitfield