General

Acetaldehyde

It’s a very, very bad thing.

I’m a regular reader of New Scientist, it’s possibly my favourite magazine – it’s fantastic!  Last week’s was no exception.  One article was particularly interesting and shocked me a little bit.  I discovered that this thing called acetaldehyde (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetaldehyde) is very nasty. Acetaldehyde basically is produced by your liver as it breaks down ethanol and causes, among other things, the infamous “hangover”. But there is so much more to it. If you drink, smoke or have bad dental hygiene read on…

Firstly alcohol is bad for your: -

- brain
- kidneys
- gonads
- skeletal muscle
- liver
- heart
- uterus and
- digestive system

Acetaldehyde, which comes from drinking alcohol is also created:-

- from tobacco smoke
- from exhaust fumes
- in foods, such as fresh bread and dairy products such as yogurts
- naturally in ripe fruit, Sherry, Calvados and coffee (Calvados drinkers are twice as likely to get oesophageal or oral cancer compared to win drinkers)
- by the barrel load from bacteria living in your mouth and guts (luckily the body as a battery of detoxifying enzymes that break 99% of it down, but any acetaldehyde molecules are left over it could cause permanent damage to your inners)
- from bad dental hygiene, which could lead to mouth cancer

It also: -

- attacks DNA
- is partly responsible for cancer and liver disease
- is possibly responsible for Alzheimer’s
- linked to rheumatoid arthritis and heart attacks, colon and rectal cancer
- messes up protein structure and function
- is a 30 times more toxic muscle poison (compared to ethanol)
- possibly linked to breast cancer
- is a human carcinogen (any substance which is an agent directly involved in the promotion of cancer), so can trigger mutations and chromosomal problems

If you are Japanese, Chinese, Korean or Taiwanese then it’s even worse. Such people genetically have faulty detoxifying enzymes, so one drink could cause: -

- facial flushing
- elevated heart rate
- diluted blood vessels

Then: -

- dizziness
- headaches
- nausea
- vomiting

Plus people have a higher rate of head and neck cancer and are at greater risk of cancer of the upper gastrointestinal track and liver.  And don’t think that once your hangover is gone you’re safe, cells don’t forget, it could take 20 to 25 years before the affects are felt.

Apart from that acetaldehyde is fine (!!!)

There is possibly a chewing gum and mouthwash that would help fight acetaldehyde, plus a type of sugar but the moral of the story is you’ve got to keep it clean. Don’t drink or smoke or sit near smokers, clean your teeth regularly and don’t breathe in car fumes.

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