How does alcohol consumption affect cancer risk and life expectancy?

How much does the consumption of alcohol harm our health??

Surely, most people will know that consuming large amounts of alcohol is not conducive to our health. A new study has now analyzed the health risk posed by mild to moderate consumption of alcohol. The researchers found that alcohol consumption increases the risk of cancer and the likelihood of premature death.

Researchers at Queen's University Belfast found in their recent research that increased alcohol consumption increases the risk of dying prematurely or developing cancer. The physicians published the results of their study in the English-language journal "PLOS Medicine".

How much alcohol should be drunk at most per week?

The study also found that the combined risk of death or cancer in a person is lowest in light drinkers. The risk is low if sufferers consume three alcoholic drinks a week. This risk increases with each additional drink per week, the experts explain. Light drinkers also seem to have a lower combined risk of all-cause mortality and for cancer compared to those who never drink. But more research is needed to determine why, researchers add.

There was a surprising finding in the study

It was to be expected that light drinkers would be at similar risk to those never drinking alcohol, so the reduced risk among light drinkers was surprising, explains study author Andrew Kunzmann of Queen's University Belfast in Northern Ireland. The reasons for the reduced risk in light drinkers compared to people who never drink alcohol are not yet known in the scientific community. Some experts have suggested that alcohol could have a cardio-protective effect that could reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Results could lead to new guidelines

In general, a better understanding of the health risks associated with drinking alcohol can help to formulate clearer guidelines on how much people should limit their alcohol intake, write the doctors.

The data of almost 100,000 participants was analyzed

The new study included data from 99,654 adults from the United States. The participants were between 55 and 74 years old. The data collected between 1993 and 2001 came from the US Prostate, Lung, Colon Cancer and Ovarian Cancer Screening Study.

Especially moderate and heavy alcohol consumption increases the risk of cancer

The average amount of alcohol someone drank in life was linearly related to the overall risk of cancer, as the risk rose as more people were drinking, the researchers say. Alcohol is considered to be the third most modifiable risk factor for cancer, accounting for 5.6 percent of cancers, the researchers explain. There has been evidence for a number of years that alcohol increases the risk of cancer. The findings of the current study support the evidence already known that particularly moderate and heavy drinking increases cancer risk, but they also show an opposite effect of light alcohol consumption in terms of overall mortality. (As)