How Worried Do I Need to Be About Alcohol and Cancer?
Well, dry January is off with a bang. Last week, surgeon general Dr. Vivek Murthy called to add cancer-risk warnings to alcohol labels. While it’s no secret that drinking is bad for you, studies cited in the Department of Health & Human Services’ new advisory report link alcohol consumption to at least seven different types of cancer, including breast, colorectum, liver, mouth, esophagus, throat, and voice box. Even moderate drinking, which the CDC classifies as one glass a day for women and two for men, won’t exempt you from the risk. “Many people out there assume that as long as they’re drinking at the limits or below the limits of the current guidelines … there is no risk to their health or well-being,” Dr. Murthy said in an interview with the New York Times. “That data does not bear that out for cancer risk.”
Alcohol, according to the advisory, is the third-leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, behind tobacco and obesity, and contributes to an estimated 100,000 cancer cases and 20,000 cancer deaths a year; last September, the American Association for Cancer Research published a report that includes alcohol consumption as one of the factors driving increased rates of breast and colorectal cancers in adults under 50. A 2020 study found that, for women, the risk of developing an alcohol-related cancer was 17 percent for those who consumed less than one drink per week and rose to 22 percent for those who drank two drinks a day. The risks for men, meanwhile, were 10 percent and 13 percent.
