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Alcohol is a direct cause of seven ​​forms of cancer, finds study


GbayGiant

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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.

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“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.

In February Prof Dame Sally Davies, the chief medical officer for England, caused a stir by warning women that drinking alcohol could cause breast cancer. She told a parliamentary hearing: “Do as I do when I reach for my glass of wine. Think: do I want the glass of wine or do I want to raise my own risk of breast cancer? I take a decision each time I have a glass.”

Davies played a key role in drawing up new government guidelines on safe drinking limits, published in January, which recommended that men reduce their maximum weekly intake of alcohol from 21 to 14 units, or seven pints of beer a week, which is the longstanding threshold that women are advised not to exceed.

The growing evidence of alcohol’s role in causing cancer, underlined by a report by the UK Committee on Carcinogenicity, was a key reason behind Davies and her counterparts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland issuing advice that some said was impractical and would be ignored. Sticking to the new guidelines would help keep drinkers’ risk of cancer low, the proponents said.

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Dr Jana Witt, Cancer Research UK’s health information officer, said: “We know that nine in 10 people aren’t aware of the link between alcohol and cancer. And this review is a stark reminder that there’s strong evidence linking the two.”

A recent CRUK study found that when people were shown a list of different cancers, only one in five of them knew that breast cancer could be caused by drinking, compared to four out of five people who knew that alcohol could cause liver cancer.

“Having some alcohol-free days each week is a good way to cut down on the amount you’re drinking,” Witt said. “Also, try swapping every other alcoholic drink for a soft drink, choosing smaller servings or less alcoholic versions of drinks, and not keeping a stock of booze at home.”

Alan Boobis, professor of biochemical pharmacology at Imperial College London, said the science showing alcohol’s role in cancer was well established. “The main difficulty is communicating effectively with the public,” he said.

Connor’s study also found that people who smoke and drink are at even greater risk of developing cancer.

More positively, there was some evidence that drinkers who gave up alcohol could reverse their risk of laryngeal, pharyngeal and liver cancer, and that their risk reduced the longer they avoided alcohol, Connor’s research found.

Elaine Hindal, chief executive of Drinkaware, the alcohol industry-funded education charity, agreed that drinking and cancer risk were closely linked.

“Regularly drinking more than the government’s low-risk guidelines puts you at increased risk of some types of cancer, and can also increase your risk of heart and liver disease, strokes and pancreatitis,” she said. “Smoking and drinking together increases your risk of developing throat and mouth cancer more than doing either on their own.”

People drinking more than the recommended limits should cut down in order to safeguard their future health, she added.

 

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Hey, it can't be all bad! Survival of the Fittest Brain Cells

A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo, and when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back of the herd that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole herd is maintained or even improved by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way, the human brain can operate only as fast as the slowest brain cells through which the electrical signals pass.

 

Recent emiological studies have shown that while excessive intake of alcohol kills off brain cells, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. Thus, regular consumption of spirits helps eliminate the weaker cells, constantly making the brain a faster and more efficient machine.

 

The result of this in-depth study verifies and validates the causal link between all-weekend parties and job-related performance. It also explains why, after a few short years of completing university studies and then getting married and settling down, most professionals cannot keep up with the performance of the new graduates. Only those few that stick to the strict regimen of voracious alcoholic consumption can maintain the intellectual levels that they achieved during their university years.

 

So, this is a call to arms. As our country is losing its technological edge we should not shudder in our homes. But get back into the bars and pubs and quaff that pint! Your company and your country needs you to be at your peak, and at your best, and you shouldn't deny yourself the career opportunities that you could achieve through excessive alcohol consumption.

 

Take life by the bottle and be all that you can be! And remember a good cold beer will kill those bad, useless brain cells that are slowing you down and it will make the necessary room needed to get the good brain cells up front and at the top ready to perform at their best. So bottoms up, down the hatch, look out brain it's coming fast!

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Id wager 90% are not like what you think . It's not hard to do. :)

I have to believe it is 90% it will explain some of the content I see here.lol I personally drink a shot a night of whisky I grew up being the designated driver because alcohol makesme sleepy.

 

Art

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I have to believe it is 90% it will explain some of the content I see here.lol I personally drink a shot a night of whisky I grew up being the designated driver because alcohol makesme sleepy.

 

Art

Ah, now there is one more thing I have to add to my list! And all this time I thought it was the"well never mind" that made me sleepy. :whistling:

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Thank you for that info GG. My alkky pals say they are too pickled to get cancer. I've beat Cancer, so far so good, now pass me the Dr. Smirnoff.

 

My Dad is going on 90 and I don't think he has missed his 2 glasses of wine and shot of Crown Royal a day in my 61 years. Some days much more than that for sure. My Mother hasn't had a single drink in 61 years and spends all of her free time in Hospital so go figure. Actually she's at Hamilton General right now, again. She knows the staff there by first name.

Edited by Old Ironmaker
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My Dad is going on 90 and I don't think he has missed his 2 glasses of wine and shot of Crown Royal a day in my 61 years. Some days much more than that for sure. My Mother hasn't had a single drink in 61 years and spends all of her free time in Hospital so go figure.

 

 

 

Sounds like my parents. My bro once said that our father tried his best to ruin his health and our mother tried her best to keep hers, and they both failed. I thought that was quite an astute observation.

 

 

Like many, I just drink to make the women look better! <_<

 

 

On a more serious note, we live on a radioactive planet that gets bombarded from other radioactivity from space(esp the sun). That probably help us mutate into who we are as humans, but tends not to be good for individual lives.

Edited by SirCranksaLot
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Cancer is just a part of living - we have billions of cells in our body and many die and regenerate themselves and when this happens enough - some cells just go wacky - keeping your immune system strong may help - most times there isn't any rime or reason

 

Take my father-in-law - he was an old timer that worked in the coal mines most of his live - he drank like a fish and ate everything that is not good for you - every ten times that I met him at least 8 of the times he was kinda lite up - smoked like a fire - I saw him eat a raw bacon sandwiches many times - he cashed in at 87 - my wife on the other hand - his daughter - never drank, never smoked, always read the labels on the food that she was buying - spent a lot of money in health stores - she died when she was 62 - bladder cancer - try and figure that out

 

Like the book says - a time to live and a time to die

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Well, we all know that alcohol kills germs, so I should be germ free 50% of my life here on earth. lol .

Live your life, it has an expiration date.--- Everything in moderation. Have fun and love as many things

as you can, pass along your knowledge to the young folks coming up. GOD HELP THEM--THEY WILL

NEED IT!!!

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Well, we all know that alcohol kills germs, so I should be germ free 50% of my life here on earth. lol .

Live your life, it has an expiration date.--- Everything in moderation. Have fun and love as many things

as you can, pass along your knowledge to the young folks coming up. GOD HELP THEM--THEY WILL

NEED IT!!!

Well said

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Thank you for that info GG. My alkky pals say they are too pickled to get cancer. I've beat Cancer, so far so good, now pass me the Dr. Smirnoff.My Dad is going on 90 and I don't think he has missed his 2 glasses of wine and shot of Crown Royal a day in my 61 years. Some days much more than that for sure. My Mother hasn't had a single drink in 61 years and spends all of her free time in Hospital so go figure. Actually she's at Hamilton General right now, again. She knows the staff there by first name.

 

OI I have a bottle of Crown that is 52 years old and some other that was 12 years old in 1977!

 

I collect that crap!

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