Alcohol – Responsible for Increasing the Risk of Cancer

The blunt truth that alcohol consumption can lead to the increase of the risk of cancer has been known for decades now. The first medical studies to reveal this were published in 1988. But recent studies come to emphasize more and more this fact. A research conducted by The National Health and Medical Research Council (known as NHMRC) showed that women who consume  even one drink a day are more exposed to cancer. The same cannot be said for men.

To be able to check the comparable risk for cancer, a man will have to drink more than 2 drinks per day and smoke. On the other hand, statistics reveal that by the age of 85, one out of two men develops this disease, while by that same age, just one out of three women is affected.

Women are more predisposed to cancer caused by alcohol consumption

A large medical study, conducted on approximately 88,000 women and 47,000 men revealed that, for women, the biggest risk is breast cancer. On the other hand, men can face the common colorectal cancer, in most cases.

If we talk about specific numbers, scientists say that a woman who consumes 5 to 14 grams of alcohol daily will have a rate of breast cancer risk of 13%, compared to one who does not drink this amount.

Passing the age of 65, women encounter an even bigger risk if they drink. Studies have found that worldwide, alcohol consumption is the cause of cancer in 1.7% of diagnosed cases.

Restrain yourself – only 2 drinks per day

NHMRC recommends to both men and women to limit the consumption of alcoholic beverages to two a day, in order to diminish the risk  of a serious disease like cancer. The type of drink is not of importance, because the factor that causes cancer – ethanol – is present in all alcoholic beverages. Fine wines, exquisite champagnes or a simple beer – all of them can make the same damage.

Breast cancer and colorectal cancer are not the only types which can appear due to alcohol consumption. There is also throat, oral cavity, esophagus and liver cancer for which you can blame drinking for both men and women. A number of at least 5000 cancer cases per year are related to long-term drinking.

Another information that cannot be ignored is that recently, studies have shown that melanoma could be associated with alcohol drinking, but only if we’re talking about high levels of alcohol.

It is puzzling that these facts are still ignored by most people, since there are so many online sources discussing this topic. The population seems to be unaware that by reducing alcohol consumption, the risk of cancer diminishes and people can lead a healthy lifestyle. All this information regarding the risk of cancer is therefore, available, but not largely known and applied by society.