Alcohol Consumption and Cancer

[rembrandt]

 

[robnplunder]

You can also get cancer if you spend too much time in the sun or eat too much grilled meat, hot dogs and bacon.

Exactly. I drink but avoid eating processed meat, beef in particular.

 

[Flieger]

As a doctor, this data really doesn't impress me. The numbers are too small unless someone is a heavy drinker, which we already know is bad for you for a variety of reasons. Cancer or not, nobody should be drinking on a daily basis or having multiple drinks in a day.

My wife and I are whiskey aficionados. While our collection is nothing compared to many we know, it's still pretty impressive to most. But we only have a drink once or twice a week, and then only one drink each time. I think there are far more things likely to kill us than 1.5 oz of bourbon twice a week.

"Well, there's a lot of doctors that tell me
I'd better start slowing it down
But there's more old drunks than there are old doctors
So I guess we better have another round"

Willie Nelson, Flieger

 

[marko]

Ok, so alcohol is bad for you. Who knew?!
Bartender! Another round!

 

[badatmath]

Cancer or not, nobody should be drinking on a daily basis or having multiple drinks in a day.

I know a lot of people who drink a fair amount daily - even most people (I'm not one). . . is it really that uncommon? I mean obviously it isn't healthy but . . .

 

[Car-Guy]

Let's see, no smoking, no drinking, no meat, what's next, no sex!

For me, it's all about moderation. Well, almost all.

 

[aja8888]

I know a lot of people who drink a fair amount daily - even most people (I'm not one). . . is it really that uncommon? I mean obviously it isn't healthy but . . .

If it was that uncommon, there wouldn't be entire rows of alcohol in all grocery stores and separate liquor stores everywhere. I'm mean, really, a lot of beer/wine/liquor gets sold daily everywhere.

Around here, we have drive through liquor stores, just like fast food places.

 

[marko]

Mom had several drinks a day and lived to be 92...and died happy.

She ate out every dinner of her life and it went like this:
A pre-dinner martini while perusing the menu, a wine or two with her meal, an after dinner drink "for digestive purposes" and a scotch or bandy nightcap when she got home.

 

[Closet_Gamer]

I’m not in the camp of “live hard, die young” but I did here a funny retort one time when someone chastised a colleague for drinking and smoking:

“Smoking and drinking will take years off your life!”

“Yeah, but those years are at the end when you ain’t having no fun anyhow.”

 

[street]

I'm not belittling anyone that uses alcohol, but I was too frugal to be a drinker. I always thought of it as wasting my time in life.

I'm not against drinking and I have always thought it to be fine if used in moderation.

 

[flyingaway]

It seems that anything could potentially cause cancer. Breathing air could cause cancer because it is polluted. I like to drink one beer a day, especially on travel. Life is to be enjoyed, not to be worried about.

 

[Rianne]

Mom had several drinks a day and lived to be 92...and died happy.

She ate out every dinner of her life and it went like this:
A pre-dinner martini while perusing the menu, a wine or two with her meal, an after dinner drink "for digestive purposes" and a scotch or bandy nightcap when she got home.

This makes me think it is a persons genetic and chemical make-up. My DH grandfather smoked for 60 years. His fingers were brown from nicotine. He drank a shot of whiskey every morning and wine through the day. He died at 93, only from pneumonia from a recent cold. I think it is impossible to make a general statement for every human. But things like processed food and alcohol negatively affect the general population.

 

[Markola]

I saw the surgeon general discussing this report on the News Hour. I was hoping the interviewer would ask him how much he drinks, but she didn’t.

 

[disneysteve]

I know a lot of people who drink a fair amount daily - even most people (I'm not one). . . is it really that uncommon? I mean obviously it isn't healthy but . . .

I didn't say it wasn't common; I said people shouldn't be doing it. I don't think it's "most people" though.

 

[ls99]

Next, Surgeon general will advise agains being born, as living will cause cancer.

 

[Gumby]

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. This very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be "cured" against one's will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.”

― C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock: Essays on Theology (Making of Modern Theology)

 

[braumeister]

This makes me think it is a persons genetic and chemical make-up. My DH grandfather smoked for 60 years. His fingers were brown from nicotine. He drank a shot of whiskey every morning and wine through the day. He died at 93, only from pneumonia from a recent cold. I think it is impossible to make a general statement for every human. But things like processed food and alcohol negatively affect the general population.

No question about it. And there are tons of anecdotes on both sides of these issues. Here are two of mine:

My grandfather drank every day of his life, typically several cocktails. He also ran a speakeasy in Brooklyn during Prohibition. And he stayed healthy until he died of old age at 96. Contrast that with one of my best friends as a teenager. He never drank a drop, never smoked, and stayed active as a government worker, but died at 51 in spite of it.

 

[badatmath]

I didn't say it wasn't common; I said people shouldn't be doing it. I don't think it's "most people" though.

I just wondered since being a doctor you would have a larger range of people to discuss it with.

I find it quite depressing most new people I have met since I retired have pretty well zero healthy habits and no interest in developing even a mild one. Like walking around a local festival is "too much walking". . . they'd prefer to just sit at a bar every week. I have zero interest in that.

 

[marko]

Here's what I don't understand:
Just about everybody knows that alcohol use can have serious implications. Liver problems, social problems, shortened lifespans, legal problems, deadly accidents to name just a few.

So suddenly just now, we need to put a label warning you about.......cancer? What, the other side effects weren't all that bad that we didn't need to be warned?

 

[Sojourner]

DW and I are oenophiles, and as such we typically have wine with dinner 3 or 4 nights a week. Neither of us suffers under any delusions that this is good for our health, but I suppose we also simply hope that it's not terribly bad for our health. And if it is, then so be it. No one lives forever, and we want to enjoy life's finer pleasures—in moderation—even if there is some downside risk.

As for the government possibly putting warning labels on alcohol, I think they should focus on what's really killing and causing chronic disease in the greatest numbers: excessive consumption of fast food, salty/sugary ultraprocessed snacks, and sugary sodas; and the epidemic of obesity and sedentary lifestyles.

 

[stepford]

 

[Scuba]

DH totally stopped drinking to optimize his cardiac health. I still enjoy drinking when we are with others who drink alcohol, or occasionally at home with a meal. I have cut back a lot though, partly for weight management, partly because of DH, and partly because of aging. I used to be able to put away quite a few drinks and not feel bad the next day as long as I drank some water and took 2 aspirin before sleeping. Now I find that sometimes even two glasses of wine over the course of a long evening will make me feel sluggish the next day.

I still enjoy wine and the occasional cocktail enough that I don’t intend to stop altogether. I do agree with others that excessive alcohol consumption has many negative impacts on society and families, regardless of any connection to cancer risk.

 

[marko]

DW and I are oenophiles, and as such we typically have wine with dinner 3 or 4 nights a week. Neither of us suffers under any delusions that this is good for our health, but I suppose we also simply hope that it's not terribly bad for our health. And if it is, then so be it. No one lives forever, and we want to enjoy life's finer pleasures—in moderation—even if there is some downside risk.

The European mindset views wine as being integral with proper digestion. When we lived there, many times our friends would decline dessert "because I have to drive".

As we kept missing the point, one of them eventually explained that if they had dessert, they'd obviously have to have another glass of wine, (c'est normale!) and so, they'd pass on dessert because they were driving.

 

[marko]

As for the government possibly putting warning labels on alcohol, I think they should focus on what's really killing and causing chronic disease in the greatest numbers: excessive consumption of fast food, salty/sugary ultraprocessed snacks, and sugary sodas; and the epidemic of obesity and sedentary lilifestyles.

Amen!

 

[CM]

I have no issue with a warning label being placed on alcohol. Actually, I think it is a good idea for people to be aware and informed about the health risks of products they use. Providing that information seems to be well within the scope of the role of Surgeon General.
Warning labels are on tobacco products, and yet those who want to continue to use them are not prevented from purchasing them.

Philip-Morris knew about the health risks of tobacco for decades but did their best to keep that information from the public so people would continue to use their products. Perdue Pharma knew that Oxycodone was dangerous and addictive but did their best to keep that information from the public so people would continue to use their products. I'm guessing that a lot of the people who were harmed by the lack of that information would have liked to know the risks and make an informed choice. We all are better off when we are given more information, and having a warning label makes it easily accessible.

I think it is rather silly to equate a warning label with "tyranny" but we live in weird times.