Alcohol and Cancer

Alcohol is something that is common across many cultures around the world. It serves as a stress relief after a hard day’s work, gathers friends and family together to reunite and tingles the taste buds.

But what if alcohol could give you cancer? Alcohol has been labeled as carcinogenic, but it was believed that the substance only created any significant risk in heavy drinkers.

However, new research suggests that even moderate drinking could be putting your health in danger. This research says that even a drink a day could be putting you at risk for developing cancer.

Before you go throw out all the six packs in your cooler, let’s look at how the study was done. Data was collected on hundreds of thousands of people in terms of the rate of their alcohol consumption and cancer mortality.

Then, extensive research was done to determine how strong of a role alcohol played in seven different types of cancer such as breast cancer, colon cancer and liver cancer. The results were both surprising and troubling.

People who consumed even a few drinks were at risk. They found that in 20,000 cancer deaths, alcohol was the culprit. Of course heavy drinkers are still at the highest risk but even people who had 1.5 drinks (or less) a day were equivalent to thirty percent of alcohol related cancer deaths. Just to clarify, the study didn’t specify certain types of alcohol so it is not safe to assume that one type of alcohol is worse than the other.

They all fall under the same category so wine is just as bad as vodka. Alcohol and cancer are two words that most people never want to see in the same sentence. However, the reality is that there is a link between alcohol and cancer and so people need to be cautious.

The study is not suggesting that anyone go cold turkey, but simply further stating the risks of alcohol consumption for any drinker, light or heavy. The best advice that can be given is to regulate alcohol intake because that will obviously lower risk of cancer.

It is also recommended that other activities be performed that lower the risk of cancer such as exercising and eating healthy. To conclude alcohol and cancer are related in terms of risk, but there are many other factors that come into play. If these factors are taken into account and controlled don’t expect to start losing hair any time soon.