Re: Re: Booze and Cancer

[Guest guest]

At 08:04 AM 1/17/2007, you wrote:

It was interesting that in the

referenced article:

1) Alcohol was bad for the oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus and

bowel.

From that article:

AlcoholAlcohol is well established as a cause of cancer:

Around 6% of UK cancer deaths could be avoided if people did not

drink

1. Alcohol consumption has been shown to increase the risk of cancers

of the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx and

oesophagus

2. Risk increases linearly with quantity of alcohol consumed above

20-30g a day, and with frequency of drinking.

The mechanisms by which alcohol induces these cancers remain

unclear

3. Smoking heavily in combination with drinking has been shown to

increase risk of cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract up to 100-fold,

and in developed countries, smoking and alcohol consumption combined are

estimated to account for 75% of cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx and

oesophagus

4,5. Risk of these cancers associated with alcohol reduces if people

stop

drinking

6,7.

A recent pooled analysis found that risk of breast cancer increases by

approximately 7% for every additional 10g of daily alcohol consumption.

This association may be mediated by an increase in sex hormone

levels

8.

Excessive alcohol consumption increases the risk of liver cancer,

probably via development of

cirrhosis

4.

A pooled analysis reported a 16% increase in risk of bowel cancer in

people drinking more than 30g alcohol a day, and a 40% increase for more

than 45g alcohol a day, after adjustment for

smoking

9.

Setting safe limits for alcohol intake is complex. Among post-menopausal

women and men aged 40- plus, drinking one to two units [a unit is 10 g] a

day can reduce the risk of coronary heart disease by

30-50%

3. The Government’s current recommendation is that men should not

regularly drink more than 3-4 units a day and women should not regularly

drink more than 2-3 units a day. However, the

European Code Against

Cancer recommends no more than two and one units a day respectively

to minimise the risk of cancer.

[a 150 ml glass of red wine (and probably white, but who drinks _that_?)

has about 15 g of alcohol]

Twenty-three percent of men in Britain drink more than three units a day,

and 11% drink more than five units. Thirteen percent of women drink more

than two units a day, and 4% at least four units a

day

10. In England 30% of men and 18% of women exceed Government

recommendations

11.

Maco

[Guest guest]

As with so many other things CRON, moderation, moderation, moderation is the key. Drinking, especially red wine, in moderation, lengthens life.

on 1/17/2007 10:32 AM, Maco at mstewart@... wrote:

At 08:04 AM 1/17/2007, you wrote:

It was interesting that in the referenced article:

1) Alcohol was bad for the oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus and bowel.

From that article:

Alcohol

Alcohol is well established as a cause of cancer: Around 6% of UK cancer deaths could be avoided if people did not drink 1 <http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/causes/lifestyle/diet/#source1> . Alcohol consumption has been shown to increase the risk of cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx and oesophagus 2 <http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/causes/lifestyle/diet/#source2> . Risk increases linearly with quantity of alcohol consumed above 20-30g a day, and with frequency of drinking.