Relationship between Alcohol Consumption and Testosterone Deficiency according to Facial Flushes among Middle-Aged and Older Korean Men.

Plain-language summary

This study asked whether alcohol relates to low testosterone differently in men who flush when they drink. It included 314 Korean men, 78 who did not drink and 236 who did, and split the drinkers into 96 who flushed and 140 who did not, then again by whether they drank more or less than eight standard drinks a week. Men who flushed and drank heavily had 4.37 times the odds of testosterone deficiency compared with men who did not drink. Low testosterone is the worse end of that measure, so this is a marker of harm rather than a benefit of drinking. Among men who did not flush, drinking was not related to testosterone deficiency at any amount. The authors conclude only that the risk rises in heavy drinkers who flush, and offer no explanation for why flushing should mark that group out.

Key findings

• Heavy drinkers (>8 drinks per week) who flushed had a 4.37 times higher risk of testosterone deficiency compared to non-drinkers.
• No significant difference in testosterone deficiency risk was found in non-flushers, regardless of alcohol consumption.