My name is Kenneth Chui and I'm 18 years old college student. Recently, I've made strenous research on the conditions of the asian flush activity. Finally, I think we can hope and pray for the light. There is the answer, and it happened only recently... so this product hasn't been on the market quite yet.

For those who are familiar with medical sciences, they would know there is a molecule in the human body called Alda-1. Recently, california's stanford (university) study has tested isolating this Alda-1 molecule in rats and found that this molecule COMPLETELY restores activity of the mutant ALDH2 whether it is heterozygous (harsh symptons) to full activity and in homozygous (mild) up to 10-folds the activity. This is a new breakthrough that I would like to share with this community. I have been on this site for quite a while and made little contributions. I hope this finding will help us all and finally get rid of the uncomfortable asian flush reactions. Some korean guy insisted doing this experiment, thank g-d for him ! they're doing further testing now. and hopefully soon it will attract the pharmacy markets into human trials, where thereafter it could be introduced to the public ...

Here are the links to the articles :
http://www.theheart.org/article/print.d … Key=903551
http://www.modernmedicine.com/modernmed … ail/550013
http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/ … 090802.asp

THIS IS BIG . ECHENG, please make a topic on this, and also if possible, give me credit =)

Alda-1 could also have another, simpler use: fighting hangovers, the researchers say. Many hangover symptoms are due to aldehyde build-up, and the compound may improve the alcohol tolerance of people with a common ALDH2 mutation, they note. This affects 40% of East Asians, causing intolerance for alcohol.

Mochly-Rosen said that Alda-1 "rather uniquely" is able to partially complement or restore to normal this mutant ALDH2 activity. Those who are heterozygous for this mutant form of ALDH2 (known as ALDH2*2) flush a lot in response to alcohol, and those who are homozygous "have so little activity that they get really ill when they drink alcohol," she explains.

Alda-1 was able to bring heterozygotes to full activity and increased the activity of the enzyme by about 10-fold in homozygotes, she noted.

"The ability of Alda-1 to partially complement or restore mutant ALDH2*2 activity is noteworthy," say the researchers in their paper, "as it is rare to find a small molecule that can specifically rescue a mutation in humans."

There is another interesting aside to this, said Mochly-Rosen. The data suggest that East Asian carriers of ALDH2*2 who experience an ischemic event should perhaps not use nitroglycerin for prolonged periods, because it can inactivate ALDH2 (something that Alda-1 can also prevent). However, before this advice could be formalized, prospective data would be needed to confirm this, she stressed.

Sobrietol® is the only product that actually reduces blood alcohol levels. It was developed at the University of Georgia under a grant, in part, from the National Institutes of Health.

Sobrietol® was found to decrease the level of blood alcohol by 56% in independent tests as measured by Oregon State Troopers. The next day will be like you didn't drink at all!

Many products claim to eliminate hangovers. Only Sobrietol® is proven to remove alcohol from the body (and it's patent precludes other companies from copying the technology). Replenishing vitamins and nutrients is great but ridding your body of excess alcohol is the key when one has over consumed.

Q. How does taking Sobrietol® help?

A. Sobrietol® provides the critical enzyme required. It helps prevent the toxic buildup that causes Asian Flush.

Bennu's Convivia product will treat symptoms associated with alcohol intolerance due to ALDH2 Deficiency, an inherited metabolic disorder.  These symptoms include flushing, nausea, headache, shortness of breath and dizziness, resulting from exposure to acetaldehyde, the primary metabolite of ethanol.  Long-term, serious health risks have been associated with repeated exposure to acetaldehyde, a carcinogen, among ALDH2-deficient individuals.

Convivia is a proprietary formulation of a small molecule compound which has been previously approved for sale in the U.S. and Europe for unrelated indications.  Bennu plans to submit an investigational new drug ("IND") application to the Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") for the initiation of clinical trials anticipated for 2008.

ALDH2 Deficiency

ALDH2 Deficiency is an inherited metabolic disorder that is especially prevalent among east Asian populations.  In affected individuals, a gene polymorphism results in diminished activity of the ALDH2 enzyme, a component of the primary metabolic pathway for ethanol and other alcohols.  This leads to an accumulation of acetaldehyde, a known carcinogen, in blood, saliva, liver and other tissues after ingestion of ethanol.

ALDH2-deficient individuals experience a range of unpleasant physical reactions to consumption of even small amounts of alcohol, including facial flushing, nausea, headache, shortness of breath and dizziness.  Additionally, the ALDH2 polymorphism has been associated with dramatically increased risk of esophageal and other digestive tract cancers in numerous studies.  The prevalence of this enzyme disorder in Asian populations has been widely reported, and is generally estimated at between 30-50% of the populations of China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea and other Asian countries.

ALDH2 Deficiency has been recognized as a serious public health risk by some of the world's leading experts in alcohol- and acetaldehyde-related pathology:

     "ALDH2 deficiency is quantitatively the most important gene mutation potentially exposing humans to an increased risk of cancer."

        * Dr. Mikko Salaspuro, Helsinki University Central Hospital, "Can heavy alcohol use lead to some kinds of cancer?", Alcoholism: Clinical and experimental research, June, 2000, 24(6) 873-877

    "Many epidemiological studies have uniformly shown that the risk of alcohol related GIT cancers is markedly increased in Asians with the low-activity ALDH2 enzyme."

        * Helmut Seitz, Department of Medicine, University of Heidelberg and Nils Homann, Medical University of Schleswig-Holstein, "The role of acetaldehyde in alcohol-associated cancer of the gastrointestinal tract" Acetaldehyde-related Pathology: Bridging the Trans-disciplinary Divide, John Wiley & Sons, 2007

Clinical Development Plan

Bennu plans to initiate a phase 2a dose-ranging study in the spring of 2008, followed by a phase 2b study with final reformulated product in the second half of 2008.