The flushing response to alcohol use among Koreans and Taiwanese.

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Abstract
Alcohol use, the existence of a flushing response to alcohol and the amount of alcohol required to evoke flushing were studied by questionnaire in 87 homeland Korean and 101 Taiwan Chinese families. SF (slow flushers flush after 2 or more drinks) and FF (fast flushers flush after 1 drink or less) were compared. Despite the similarity in the proportions of subjects who reported flushing, Koreans reported very heavy and Taiwanese very light alcohol use. The 2 groups differed substantially in the proportions of SF and FF. Five ethnic groups in Hawaii were compared with the Koreans and Taiwanese. Fast flushing, but not slow flushing, leads to substantial decreases in alcohol use among all 7 groups. The association of flushing type with the extent and duration of flushing and with the frequency of other alcohol-related symptoms may be dose-dependent. For both Koreans and Taiwanese, family resemblances in flushing are substantial but not supportive of the belief that flushing is dominant and results from the influence of a single autosomal gene pair. Of the large groups of subjects from whom data were obtained (Caucasians, Chinese, Filipinos, Hawaiians or part Hawaiians, and Japanese in Hawaii; homeland Koreans; and Taiwan Chinese), the Koreans and Taiwanese differ the most from one another in alcohol consumption. There is substantial diversity among groups frequently lumped together as Mongoloid.

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