Men Who Flush When Drinking Alcohol Have a 4 Times Higher Risk of Hormone Deficiency

Men with Frequent Heavy Drinking and Facial Flushing
4x Higher Risk of Testosterone Deficiency
Limit Alcohol During Year-End Gatherings

During the year-end and New Year period with many drinking occasions, men who experience facial flushing after drinking should be especially cautious about excessive alcohol consumption.

According to the Korea Food Communication Forum on the 21st, a team led by Professor Kim Seong-su from the Department of Family Medicine at Chungnam National University Hospital analyzed data and found that people who frequently drink excessively and experience facial flushing after drinking have more than four times the risk of testosterone deficiency compared to those who do not drink.

Drinking 8 times a week and facial flushing increase risk of testosterone deficiency

This study analyzed the correlation between alcohol consumption and testosterone levels in 314 adult men who underwent regular health checkups measuring total blood testosterone levels from June 2016 to December 2020.

Testosterone, a type of male hormone, is known to decrease due to alcohol. Acetaldehyde, a substance produced when ethanol?the main component of alcohol?is broken down in the liver, causes problems.

Acetaldehyde is the cause of hangovers and generates reactive oxygen species that reduce testosterone synthesis. It also accumulates in the body, activating facial flushing. Generally, when facial flushing occurs after drinking, it is said that the harmful effects of ethanol and acetaldehyde last longer.

In particular, men who drink more than 8 drinks per week and show facial flushing after drinking have a 4.4 times higher risk of testosterone deficiency compared to non-drinkers. Even if facial flushing occurs after drinking, men who consume less than 8 drinks per week did not have a significantly increased risk of testosterone deficiency. Overall, the risk of testosterone deficiency in drinkers was not significantly higher than in non-drinkers.

The research team stated, "Testosterone deficiency can lower quality of life due to decreased libido, erectile dysfunction, infertility, fatigue, depressed mood, reduced concentration and memory, and sleep disorders in men."

Facial flushing after drinking is more common in men than women

According to other studies, facial flushing after drinking is known to be more frequently experienced by men than women. Professor Kim Jong-seong’s team from the Department of Family Medicine at Chungnam National University Hospital confirmed this by analyzing adult drinking rates using raw data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2019 to 2020.

When classifying all adults into non-drinkers, drinkers who experienced facial flushing, and drinkers who did not experience facial flushing, the rate of facial flushing experience was 24.8% in men, higher than 18.2% in women. The rate of excessive drinking was higher in men who experienced facial flushing than in those who did not.

25 million drinkers... caution against excessive drinking during year-end and New Year

As the year-end and New Year period arrives for the first time since the COVID-19 crisis alert level was downgraded from 'severe' to 'caution' in June, caution against excessive drinking is required. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, there are 25 million drinkers in Korea, with 70.5% of adult men and 51.2% of adult women drinking at least once a month.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a daily appropriate alcohol intake of less than 40g (4 glasses of soju) for men and less than 20g (2 glasses of soju) for women. During drinking, it is advisable to drink plenty of water to prevent dehydration and delay alcohol absorption in the body.