
Alcohol is a direct cause of seven ​​forms of cancer, finds study - CarolineW
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jul/22/alcohol-direct-cause-seven-forms-of-cancer-study
======
jmartini
[https://health.spectator.co.uk/study-proves-alcohol-
causes-c...](https://health.spectator.co.uk/study-proves-alcohol-causes-
cancer-the-problem-there-wasnt-a-study/)

"It’s a comment piece. It doesn’t contain any new research, nor does it
contain statistical analysis of previous research. It’s not a meta-analysis or
a systematic review. It is a short essay in the ‘For Debate’ section of the
journal in which one woman gives her opinion about whether correlation equals
causation when it comes to the epidemiological evidence on alcohol and
cancer."

~~~
gkya
The title of this article is also helpful: «Study ‘proves alcohol causes
cancer’. The problem? There wasn’t a study.»

~~~
thefastlane
it was a study. the abstract explains its methods, results, and conclusions.
it has 44 references.

folks, just go read it for yourself, the DOI is: 10.1111/add.13477

------
virtualritz
After skipping through the presentation for this paper [1], I get the feeling
the claims of the article are a tad outlandish:

"The study, [...], concludes that there is more than simply a link or
statistical association between alcohol and cancer that could be explained by
something else."

But all the presentation uses to back up its claim is statistics and the
sample size is small. I assume the presentation doesn't omit any way to draw
conclusions that the paper contains. The latter is behind a paywall so I
haven't read it.

People in this forum [2] seem to have similar concerns.

[1] [http://alcoholaction.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/Cancer-
deaths-...](http://alcoholaction.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/Cancer-deaths-
attributable-to-alcohol-in-New-Zealanders-under-80.pdf) [2]
[https://www.bu.edu/alcohol-forum/critique-188-alcohol-
attrib...](https://www.bu.edu/alcohol-forum/critique-188-alcohol-attributable-
cancer-in-new-zealand-28-june-2016/)

------
rbosinger
This is how I see things going with alcohol. Some of the following assumptions
are based on what my parents have told me about their generation (in Canada).

\- everybody used to smoke, now it seems crazy to most people

\- people also didn't wear seat belts, drove after drinking more frequently
(according to my parents anyway) and probably had about 3-4 different
vegetables in their diet

\- now, in many circles, smoking (regularly) is looked at like a meth
addiction

\- although we still battle with processed/junk food I'd say the options to
eat healthier are here and many people would gasp if they found out you ate
only meat and potatoes

Yet, alcohol, in North America, is still widely looked at as "OK (just don't
drive)". I think we'll see more studies and campaigns about the health risks
of alcohol over the next decade. In 20 years, in certain places, drinking
might be looked at like smoking is now.

It's going to be so boring.

~~~
davidw
OTOH, there are ton of people in Mediterranean countries who drink their 2/3
glasses of wine a day and live to a ripe old age.

~~~
ArtDev
They also consume a lot of olive oil, tomatoes, seafood and coffee. They are
super chill and spend a lot of time with friends outside.

Also, people in the Mediterranean pretty much only drink wine. They are quite
moderate drinkers too, never really getting wasted either.

Anyhow, that is what I saw when I was there.

------
corysama
Everything we eat both causes and prevents cancer [1]. The two real questions
are: What are the odds? And, where is the good balance? The linked paper says
"Current estimates suggest that alcohol-attributable cancers at these sites
make up 5.8% of all cancer deaths world-wide." [2] The earlier linked
recommendation is basically "keep your average <= 1 drink a day" [3] But, I
didn't read the details.

[1] [http://www.sciencealert.com/images/art-
apr-15/Medical_studie...](http://www.sciencealert.com/images/art-
apr-15/Medical_studies-05.0.png)

[2]
[http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.13477/abstrac...](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.13477/abstract)

[3] [https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jan/08/tough-
drinki...](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jan/08/tough-drinking-
guidelines-not-scaremongering-says-chief-medical-officer)

------
sp527
There are a lot of people (alcoholics, partygoers, etc) and entities (alcohol
producers) with a vested interest in ignoring or burying this kind of
research. Alcohol is far too entrenched in our society for anyone to
successfully campaign against it.

~~~
pc2g4d
All the news reports I've seen connecting alcohol with cancer come from the
UK. Maybe because they have a National Health Service that's trying to
minimize national healthcare costs? Or maybe because their researchers are
less beholden to industry?

Or maybe that's a false connection.

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gkya
Blue zone: «a demographic and/or geographic area of the world where people
live measurably longer lives.»

«Characteristics: The people inhabiting Blue Zones share common lifestyle
characteristics that contribute to their longevity. ... Buettner in his book
provide a list of nine lessons, covering the lifestyle of blue zones people:
... 6. Moderate alcohol intake ...»

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Zone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Zone)

------
DanBC
The English NHS has a useful "Behind the headlines" site, and they've written
about this.

[http://www.nhs.uk/news/2016/07July/Pages/alcohol-a-direct-
ca...](http://www.nhs.uk/news/2016/07July/Pages/alcohol-a-direct-cause-of-
seven-types-of-cancer.aspx)

~~~
autotune
>An additional limitation to keep in mind is that this data mainly appeared to
be from observational studies. These cannot prove cause and effect. The
individual studies will likely have varied considerably in the additional
health and lifestyle factors they took account of when looking at the links
with alcohol. For example, smoking, diet and physical activity are all factors
likely to be associated both with level of alcohol consumption and cancer
risk.

In other words correlation does not equal causation. If someone who exercises
several days per week, has a healthy diet, and drinks a glass or two of wine
each night, would that really have the same potential to cause cancer as
someone who drinks 2 beers every day, eats fast food, and smokes cigarettes?
I'd like to see long term studies done with individuals who have a "healthy"
lifestyle vs "unhealthy" with alcohol involved if at all possible.

------
msm23
> The study, published in the scientific journal Addiction, concludes that
> there is more than simply a link or statistical association between alcohol
> and cancer that could be explained by something else.

This isn't published to any of the major health journals, rather it's been
published in the journal Addiction which probably doesn't have the most
balanced view on the role of alcohol in society.

~~~
thefastlane
"which probably doesn't have the most balanced view on the role of alcohol in
society"

source?

~~~
kpil
'Addiction' kind of wraps it up.

------
gtrubetskoy
"Even without complete knowledge of biological mechanisms [of how alcohol
causes cancer], the epidemiological evidence can support the judgment" \- I
think they basically are saying that there is enough correlation to imply
causation.

But we all know no such claim can be made until there is "complete knowledge
of biological mechanisms".

~~~
jackmott
Well, you can't claim to KNOW. But you can claim to be very suspicious.

------
aaron695
I'm surprised that this is a thing?

I've just taken it for granted alcohol and breathing in small particles causes
all types of cancer?

Doesn't everyone know this?

I get people don't realise campfires are the same as cigarettes.

But alcohol, I'd have thought a given. People don't know it gives you cancer?

That said, it's a propaganda piece, so what if it does? Working a job gives
you cancer.

The death rate is what concerns me and compared to other issues in society,
like drink driving.

~~~
stonemetal
Honestly I had never heard of a link between alcohol and cancer before.

~~~
xigency
Wow, this doesn't surprise me either, but that's not to say there shouldn't be
more awareness!

For example, one article from 2011 mentions a link between alcohol and stomach
cancer:

"If heavy drinking is a cause of stomach cancer, it may be related to one of
the metabolic byproducts of alcohol -- called acetaldehyde. The substance is a
known human carcinogen, Duell's team notes."

Note that this is related to _heavy_ drinking. One glass of wine per week can
be beneficial to your health, for example.

Liver cancer is also commonly known to be associated with alcoholics.

~~~
sp527
The problem is that a lot of studies are bogus (p-hacking, deliberately
hysterical to gain media attention , etc) so it's becoming difficult to winnow
through it all and find the stuff that's meaningful.

This is actually the fairly troubling reality of medical research in general.
People who have financial interests in achieving particular conclusions have
managed to weaponize these kinds of studies. There's a very real risk of
important research getting lost in the tremendous amount of noise that's being
generated.

~~~
TheSpiceIsLife
Too true. I'm going to err on the side of caution with ethanol. My reasoning
is as follows:

Ethanol is a solvent, our brains are mostly fat - this should be a cause for
concern. Cell walls are a phospholipid bilayer, which probably, at least
partly, explains why ethanol is an irritant to our tissues. Anything that
causes irritation over a long enough time can lead to an increase in cell
turnover and inflammation. Anything that leads to an increased cell turnover
and inflammation has the potential increase the risks of cancer.

Additionally, for all the supposed health benefits of drinking [whatever the
fashionable number is this week] glasses of wine, all the experiments I've
done by pouring wine on to plants and insects has led to a failure to thrive
or death, whereas putting green leafy vegetables on a plant or insect
typically leads to the organism thriving, or at worst disinterest.

Also, ethanol can be used as a toxic agent for the purposes of sterilisation.
That doesn't sound like the sort of thing I would want to drink.

Additionally, even the organisms that produce alcohol for human consumption,
the Saccharomyces yeast organisms, consider ethanol a _waste_ product.

I'm not going to wait for conclusive evidence to prove that alcohol does or
doesn't cause an increased risk of some types of cancer.

------
majkinetor
I think this is BS. Alcohol was consumed in enormous quantities since BC but
cancer epidemics is recent thing. I dont doubt it might contribute to some
forms of cancer but claim og direct cause is something else.

~~~
eevilspock
How do you know that? Do you have some data on alcohol consumption since BC,
and how broadly it was consumed by the world population (i.e. was it only the
tiny fraction of wealthy people)? Do you have some data that shows "cancer
epidemics is recent thing"?

Even if you have this data, have you eliminated all the other variables? E.g.
longer lifespans may account for higher cancer rates.

~~~
gkya
Dionysios is the greek god for among other things, wine. He's been divinised
for bringing wine to greece. It was invented in the northern caucasus 6
thousand years ago. If you ever read any classical literature or antique
philosophy, you'll have a reference for how wine was consumed in the
antiquity. And if you want to see how much the antiques lived, see Diogenes
Laerteos.

~~~
eevilspock
Most literature until modern times was written by, about and for the wealthy.
Diogenes Laertius was no where near a common person. Nor was any philosopher
for that matter. I'm kind of shocked that you consider antique philosophy a
window into how the vast majority of people lived in the past.

Again, show me the data.

~~~
gkya
Go find the data. I'm not going to make archaeological research to convince
you.

