Most people are not aware of alcohol’s cancer risk. Let’s learn more

Drinking any type of alcohol beverage (even in small amounts) increases the risk for cancer. In South Africa, alcohol is considered to be the most widespread and harmful drug of abuse.

What the research says

Elize Joubert, CANSA CEO, states, “Alcohol consumption is associated with significant public health and safety problems, including causing a number of cancers.”

“There’s strong evidence that alcohol causes cancers of the colon, rectum, breast, mouth, pharynx, larynx, liver and oesophagus. And there’s also mounting evidence that heavy drinking might be linked to cancer of the pancreas. Furthermore, evidence suggests that drinking alcohol causes stomach and breast cancer in pre-menopausal women. Alcohol can cause weight gain which also increases cancer risk.”

Understanding carcinogens

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is part of the World Health Organization (WHO). Its major goal is to identify causes of cancer. The most widely used system for classifying carcinogens comes from the IARC.

In the past 30 years, the IARC has evaluated the cancer-causing potential of more than 900 likely substances, placing them into one of the following groups:

  1. Group 1: Carcinogenic to humans
  2. Group 2A: Probably carcinogenic to humans
  3. Group 2B: Possibly carcinogenic to humans
  4. Group 3: Unclassifiable as to carcinogenicity in humans
  5. Group 4: Probably not carcinogenic to humans

Alcohol was declared a carcinogen (Group 1) in 1988 by IARC. Surprisingly, most people are not aware of alcohol’s cancer risk. The IARC reports that no amount of alcohol is safe to drink.

    The impact of alcohol on your health

    In South Africa, alcohol is considered to be the most widespread and harmful drug of abuse. In 2015, alcohol was declared the fifth leading cause of death and disability in South Africa.

    This is due to the fact that alcohol influences unsafe sexual practices (including transmission and progression of sexually transmitted diseases), and interpersonal violence.

    These two factors are among the top two contributors to disability and death, with alcohol itself being the third largest contributor to disability and death, accounting for 7% of the SA health burden.

    Of the 7% of the disease burden attributable to alcohol, 3.4% are related to cancers. Furthermore, alcohol use is linked to personal injury (including those due to road crashes), and suicides. Alcohol consumption is also associated with destruction of families and disruption of communities.

    The hidden toll of alcohol and your risk for cancer

    Reduce your cancer risk

    Drinking any type of alcoholic beverage, even in small amounts, whether wine, spirits, or commercially produced beer increases risk for cancer.

    The increased risk for cancer due to alcohol consumption may be related to two chemicals that can damage the DNA of healthy cells, namely ethanol (which is the primary ingredient in alcoholic beverages), and acetaldehyde (which is made when alcohol is digested by the body).

    Alcohol may affect the breakdown of the hormone oestrogen, which results in increased levels of oestrogen in the blood. This, in turn, is a risk factor for breast, ovarian, and uterine cancers. This is a particular concern to pre-menopausal women and women taking menopausal hormone therapy. Drinking alcohol may affect the body’s ability to process and absorb important nutrients such as vitamins A, C, D, E, folate, and carotenoids.

    Furthermore, alcohol may result in increased weight gain which also increases cancer risk.

    Alcohol in a pregnant woman’s blood passes to the baby through the umbilical cord. Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, and a range of lifelong physical, behavioural, and intellectual disabilities. These disabilities are known as foetal alcohol spectrum disorders. In addition to cancer risk, the more alcohol consumed, the greater the risks for heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and liver disease.

    Tips to lower your alcohol intake:

    • Acknowledge that drinking can harm your health and negatively influence others’ wellbeing – make the decision to lower the amount of alcohol you drink and to do so responsibly.
    • Decide ahead of time how many drinks you will limit yourself to on a particular occasion.
    • Make your drink last by drinking slowly – avoid drinking rounds.
    • Choose times of the week which you will keep as alcohol-free and stick to it – challenge your friends to do the same.
    • Avoid drinking on an empty stomach. Choose lighter beers or spirits with less alcohol.
    • Get creative in mixing drinks that allow you to reduce alcohol content.
    • Alternate your drinks with water.
    • Calculate how much money you save each time you don’t buy alcoholic drinks.

    Images: Freepik

    Sources