10 hours ago
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20...100612.htm
INTRO: As Americans prepare for the holiday season, new research serves as a reminder to think carefully about the long-term health impact of raising a celebratory glass. Alcohol is already recognized as a cause of several cancers, even when consumed at moderate levels. Despite this, drinking remains common, and many uncertainties remain about how both how often people drink and how much they drink influence their cancer risk.
In addition, risk is not the same for everyone, and current alcohol policies rarely highlight the connection between drinking and cancer.
To address these gaps, researchers from Florida Atlantic University's Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine conducted an extensive systematic review to explore how different levels of alcohol use -- excessive, moderate and even mild -- affect cancer risk in U.S. adults.
They evaluated 62 studies, with sample sizes ranging from 80 people to nearly 100 million participants. The team also examined co-existing health conditions, such as obesity and chronic liver disease, which are known to increase risk, and they identified social and demographic groups that appear particularly vulnerable.
The findings, published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, show that both how often people drink and how much alcohol they consume play a significant role in cancer risk. The association was especially strong for breast, colorectal, liver, oral, laryngeal, esophageal and gastric cancers. Alcohol use also made outcomes worse in conditions such as alcoholic liver disease, which was linked to more advanced liver cancer and lower survival rates.
Higher levels of alcohol use were associated with greater risk, particularly among African Americans, people with genetic predispositions, and individuals with obesity or diabetes. Factors such as race, age, education and income further shaped exposure and vulnerability. As a result, lower-socioeconomic groups and some racial/ethnic communities experienced a disproportionate burden, even when their overall alcohol consumption was similar to or lower than that of other groups.
In contrast, people who followed American Cancer Society recommendations on alcohol and other healthy lifestyle behaviors had lower cancer risk and reduced mortality. This pattern underscores the value of integrated lifestyle changes rather than focusing on alcohol in isolation... (MORE - details)
INTRO: As Americans prepare for the holiday season, new research serves as a reminder to think carefully about the long-term health impact of raising a celebratory glass. Alcohol is already recognized as a cause of several cancers, even when consumed at moderate levels. Despite this, drinking remains common, and many uncertainties remain about how both how often people drink and how much they drink influence their cancer risk.
In addition, risk is not the same for everyone, and current alcohol policies rarely highlight the connection between drinking and cancer.
To address these gaps, researchers from Florida Atlantic University's Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine conducted an extensive systematic review to explore how different levels of alcohol use -- excessive, moderate and even mild -- affect cancer risk in U.S. adults.
They evaluated 62 studies, with sample sizes ranging from 80 people to nearly 100 million participants. The team also examined co-existing health conditions, such as obesity and chronic liver disease, which are known to increase risk, and they identified social and demographic groups that appear particularly vulnerable.
The findings, published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, show that both how often people drink and how much alcohol they consume play a significant role in cancer risk. The association was especially strong for breast, colorectal, liver, oral, laryngeal, esophageal and gastric cancers. Alcohol use also made outcomes worse in conditions such as alcoholic liver disease, which was linked to more advanced liver cancer and lower survival rates.
Higher levels of alcohol use were associated with greater risk, particularly among African Americans, people with genetic predispositions, and individuals with obesity or diabetes. Factors such as race, age, education and income further shaped exposure and vulnerability. As a result, lower-socioeconomic groups and some racial/ethnic communities experienced a disproportionate burden, even when their overall alcohol consumption was similar to or lower than that of other groups.
In contrast, people who followed American Cancer Society recommendations on alcohol and other healthy lifestyle behaviors had lower cancer risk and reduced mortality. This pattern underscores the value of integrated lifestyle changes rather than focusing on alcohol in isolation... (MORE - details)