
3 drinks a day can trigger liver cancer; coffee offsets it - antimora
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/national_world/2015/03/27/3-drinks-a-day-can-trigger-liver-cancer-coffee-offsets-it.html
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beefsack
A reminder to take medical news from mainstream press with a grain of salt.

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erispoe
I wonder what's the interaction between the two, that's not described in the
article. Can you alleviate the risks of drinking alcohol by also drinking
coffee? Irish coffee anyone?

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jp_rider
It's been shown that caffeine shortens telomeres, while alcohol lengthens them
[1]. This could be the reason why they offset each other.

[1] -
[http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131205142127.ht...](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131205142127.htm)

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Cyph0n
Haha, makes me feel sorry for people who drink alcohol. It's basically the
same as smoking - "how many cigarettes a day keeps me away from lung cancer?".
Instead of asking that question, why not just stop?

The fact that alcohol is such a norm is something I don't get. Let's not even
mention its other helpful side-effects.

Edit: Keep the downvotes coming. <3 hivemind

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erispoe
Drinking 3 drinks a day, the amount necessary to have an effect on liver
cancer according to the study, makes you pretty much an alcoholic, not just
part of the vast number of people "who drink alcohol".

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_s
I don't think alcoholism can be defined by the quantity of consumption but a
persons dependency on alcohol itself, and how it impacts or impairs their day-
to-day life / relations / functions.

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erispoe
It's about developing an addiction. And addiction is a function of regularity,
for alcohol. Day-to-day impact is not necessarily a good measure because it
can have no negative impact at all as long as you have access to the product.
A well-behaved addiction under normal circumstances is an addiction
nonetheless.

