Denis Campbell - Alcohol is a direct cause of seven forms of cancer, finds study
Alcohol causes
seven forms of cancer, and people consuming even low to moderate amounts are at
risk, according to new analysis. Health experts
endorsed the findings and said they showed that ministers should initiate more
education campaigns in order to tackle widespread public ignorance about how
closely alcohol and cancer are connected. The study sparked renewed calls for
regular drinkers to be encouraged to take alcohol-free days, and for alcohol
packaging to carry warning labels.
Fresh analysis of
evidence accumulated over recent years implicates alcohol in the development of
breast, colon, liver and other types of cancer. The study, published
in the scientific journal Addiction, concludes that there is more than simply a
link or statistical association between alcohol and cancer that could be
explained by something else. There is now enough credible evidence to say
conclusively that drinking is a direct cause of the disease, according to
Jennie Connor, of the preventive and social medicine department at Otago
University in New Zealand.
“There is strong
evidence that alcohol causes cancer at seven sites in the body and probably
others,” Connor said. “Even without complete knowledge of biological mechanisms
[of how alcohol causes cancer], the epidemiological evidence can support the
judgment that alcohol causes cancer of the oropharynx, larynx, oesophagus,
liver, colon, rectum and breast.”
Growing evidence
suggested that alcohol was also likely to cause skin, prostate and pancreatic
cancer, she added. Emphasising that a drinker’s risk increased in relation to
the amount consumed, Connor said: “For all these there is a dose-response
relationship.” Connor arrived at her
conclusions after studying reviews undertaken over the past 10 years by the
World Cancer Research Fund, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the World Health
Organisation’s cancer body, and other authoritative bodies.
“The highest risks are
associated with the heaviest drinking but a considerable burden is experienced
by drinkers with low to moderate consumption, due to the distribution of
drinking in the population,” Connor said. Campaigns to reduce alcohol
consumption should therefore try to encourage everyone to cut down, as
targeting only heavy drinkers had “limited potential” to reduce alcohol-related
cancer, she added... Read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jul/22/alcohol-direct-cause-seven-forms-of-cancer-study