Doctors have warned that having less than two alcoholic drinks a day can increase your risk of developing cancer, after researchers found that even moderate consumption was associated with almost a third of alcohol-related cancers. According to the findings, which are published in the American Journal of Public Health, 3.5% of cancer deaths can be attributed to alcohol.
The researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine and Boston University School of Public Health noted that alcohol is one of the leading causes of cancer yet few people realise how little they need to drink to put their health at risk. They said that, specifically, the link between alcohol and breast cancer is often overlooked despite the fact that drink is believed to cause 15% of deaths from the disease.
Since 1988, alcohol has been classified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as one of the most carcinogenic substances, with particular regard to cancers of the mouth, throat and liver. In the UK, Professor Mark Bellis, director of the centre for Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University, has calculated that cancer was the biggest contributor to alcohol-related deaths and was responsible for 9,000 cancer deaths a year, 1,500 of which were from breast cancer.
According to Professor Bellis, it should be compulsory for all alcoholic products to bear cancer warnings, as it is wrong that people are buying them without knowing the risks. ‘There is no safe level of alcohol consumption in terms of cancer risk. Everyone should know if a substance carries that sort of risk. Posters shouldn’t say ‘drink responsibly’ they should say something about the health risks, particularly around cancer,’ he said.
He noted that most people believe that drinking at low levels is good for heart health, and this has become mixed up with the message about the dangers of alcohol, and ‘the protective effects are limited to older age groups and anything more than half a glass of wine a night is not beneficial. If someone has a heavy night, drinking a bottle of wine in a night, just once a month, all the health benefits are wiped out.’ He added, ‘The way most people drink is giving them no health benefit at all. We need to tackle the harmful effects of alcohol in the same way as tobacco. It is a fundamental right that people should not that alcohol causes cancer.’
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