© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Alcohol is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States after tobacco and obesity, according to a new report by the US Surgeon General. The advisory, released last week, also said all alcoholic drinks — whether beer, wine or spirits — should carry a label warning consumers about their cancer risks, like packs of cigarettes do.
According to the report, alcohol use contributes to 100,000 cancer cases and 20,000 related deaths each year.
The report is also a blow to those, including alcohol companies, who have been advocating that moderate drinking can help prevent heart attacks and strokes. Growing research has shown that even one drink per day can increase the risk of certain cancers such as breast, mouth, and throat cancers.
According to the report, there are four ways. These are:
DNA DAMAGE: The body processes alcohol into acetaldehyde, a chemical compound that can damage DNA and prevent cells from repairing the damage. This can raise the chances of mutations and uncontrolled cell growth, which play a part in the formation of tumours.
OXIDATION & INFLAMMATION: Acetaldehyde is converted into acetate in a process that involves oxidation, producing dangerous unstable oxygen-containing molecules that damage cells and contribute to cancer-causing inflammation.
RAISING RISK FROM TOBACCO: Carcinogens from other sources, especially particles of tobacco smoke, can dissolve in alcohol, making it easier for them to be absorbed into the body.
HORMONE PRODUCTION: Alcohol consumption increases levels of some hormones, including estrogen, which can increase risks for breast and ovarian cancers.
According to the report, alcohol use increases the risk for breast, colon and rectum, esophagus, liver, mouth, throat, and larynx cancers.
“The risk for cancers of the breast, the mouth and the throat may rise with consumption of as little as one drink a day, or even less,” the US Surgeon General Dr Vivek Murthy said, according to a report in The New York Times.
The report highlighted that alcohol irritates and damages the protective mucosal lining — the moist, inner lining found in the mouth, nose, lungs, and stomach — that usually guards cells from carcinogens.
The report said that an alcohol-related cancer will develop in about 10 of every 100 men who consume less than one drink per week, 11 of every 100 who average one drink daily, and 13 of every 100 who consume two drinks daily.
Higher alcohol consumption increases breast cancer risk in women from roughly 11 cases in every 100 of those who consume less than one drink per week, to 13 cases in every 100 who consume one drink per day and 15 in every 100 who consume two drinks per day, according to the report.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines one alcoholic beverage as 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor, 5 ounces of wine with 12% alcohol, or 12 ounces of beer with 5% alcohol.
(With inputs from Reuters)
