The U.S. Surgeon General said Friday that alcohol is a leading cause of cancer, and that alcoholic beverages should carry warning labels similar to those on cigarette packs.
This is the latest salvo. A heated debate about the risks and benefits of moderate drinking As the influential US Dietary Guidelines for Americans are about to be updated. For decades, moderate drinking has helped prevent heart attacks and strokes.
This idea is included in the dietary advice given to Americans. But a growing body of research has linked alcohol consumption, sometimes even within recommended limits, to various types of cancer.
Labels currently affixed to bottles and cans of alcoholic beverages warn of general “health hazards” and general “health hazards” of drinking during pregnancy or before driving and operating machinery.
Surgeon General Dr Vivek Murthy said alcohol directly contributes to 100,000 cancer cases and 20,000 related deaths each year.
He Called for updating the labels. Adding to the increased risk of breast cancer, colon cancer and at least five other disorders that are now linked to alcohol consumption by scientific studies.
“Many people out there believe that as long as they drink at or below the current guidelines of one drink a day for women and two for men, there is no risk to their health or well-being,” says Dr. No,” Dr Murthy said in an interview.
“Data does not support cancer risk.”
Only Congress could mandate the new warning labels proposed by Dr. Murthy, and it’s unclear whether the incoming administration would support the change.
Still, President-elect Donald J. Trump doesn’t drink, and his pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., vowed to give up alcohol and drugs decades ago, saying he Attend AA meetings regularly.
There is no doubt that overuse is harmful. But advocates of moderate drinking — including wine, beer and spirits makers, and some physicians and scientists — argue that a little alcohol each day can reduce cardiovascular disease, the No. 1 killer in the United States.
However, new scientific studies have criticized the methodology of earlier studies, and challenged what was once the consensus view.
Although most cancer deaths occur at levels of alcohol consumption that exceed current recommended dietary guidelines, Dr Murthy said. There are, but one drink a day or less can increase the risk of breast, mouth and throat cancer. on Friday.
Overall, one out of every six breast cancer cases is attributable to alcohol consumption, Dr Murthy said. More recent studies have also linked moderate alcohol consumption to some forms of heart disease, including atrial fibrillation, a heart arrhythmia.
Two scientific reviews will be used to inform the latest recommendations on alcohol consumption in the federal Dietary Guidelines.
five years ago, Scientific report which informed the writing of the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines that alcohol is a carcinogen and generally unhealthy and recommended “Strict Instructions” But by limiting the recommendation to men A standard drinkor 14 grams of alcohol a day.
When the final guidelines were developed, however, the advice that it was acceptable for men to drink in moderation up to two drinks a day remained unchanged.
But the government acknowledged emerging evidence showing that “drinking alcohol within recommended limits may also increase the overall risk of death from various causes, such as from many types of cancer and some forms of heart disease.” “
Since then, more studies have linked alcoholic beverages to cancer. Yet any effort to replace warning labels on alcoholic beverages may face an uphill battle.
The current warning label has not been changed since its adoption in 1988, even though the link between alcohol and breast cancer has been known for decades.
It was first mentioned in the 2000 US Dietary Guidelines. In 2016, the Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs and Health linked alcohol abuse to seven different types of cancer.
More recently, a scientific review of research on moderate drinking, sponsored by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, was commissioned by Congress.
The analysis found an association between alcohol consumption and a slight increase in breast cancer, but no clear association with any other cancer. gave The report also revived the theory that moderate drinking is linked to a lower heart rate. Deaths from stroke and stroke, and fewer deaths overall than never drinking.
The World Health Organization says there is no safe limit for alcohol consumption, however, and 47 countries require warnings on alcoholic beverages. But cancer is rarely mentioned.
To date, only South Korea has a label warning about liver cancer, although manufacturers may choose alternative labels that do not mention cancer. Ireland is currently due to introduce labels in 2026 that say there is a “direct link between alcohol and malignant cancer”.
The industry has a strong history of fighting warning labels that mention cancer, and alcohol-producing nations have also challenged warning labels under international trade law.
Opposition to industry This led to the premature termination of a federally funded Canadian study on the effects of warning labels mentioning cancer..
The Surgeon General’s advisory provided a brief review of research studies and reviews published over the past two decades, including a global study of 195 countries and regions with 28 million people.
All of them found that heavy alcohol consumption was associated with a higher risk of cancer.
Other studies looked at specific cancers, e.g Breast cancer And oral cancer, Those who drank only one drink a day had a 10 percent and 40 percent increase in finding these risks, respectively, compared with those who did not drink.
The report describes the biological mechanisms by which alcohol induces cancerous changes at the cellular level.
The most widely accepted theory is that inside the body, alcohol is broken down into acetaldehyde, a metabolite that binds to DNA and damage, causing the cell to grow uncontrollably and form a malignant tumor.
Animal experiments have shown that rats fed drinking water with either ethanol, alcoholic beverage alcohol, or acetaldehyde develop large numbers of tumors in their bodies.
Research has shown that alcohol causes oxidative stress, which increases inflammation and can damage DNA.
It also alters the levels of hormones such as estrogen, which may play a role in the development of breast cancer, and makes it easier for the body to absorb carcinogens such as tobacco smoke particles, which can increase the risk of mouth and throat cancer. The risk increases.
The Surgeon General’s report also details the increase in risk associated with alcohol consumption, the difference between absolute risk and relative risk increase.
For example, a woman’s lifetime absolute risk of breast cancer is about 11.3 percent (11 in 100) for those who drink less than one drink a week.
The risk increased to 13.1 percent (13 out of 100) at one drink a day and 15.3 percent (15 out of 100) at two drinks a day.
For men, the risk of developing an alcohol-related cancer increased from about 10 percent (10 out of every 100 people) to 11.4 percent (11 out of 100) for those who drank less than one drink a week. Adds up to everyone who drinks alcohol. average day. This rises to 13 percent (13 out of 100 people) for those who average two drinks a day.
Many Americans are unaware of the link between alcohol and cancer.
Less than half of Americans According to a 2019 survey of American adults ages 18 and older conducted by the American Institute for Cancer Research, alcohol use was identified as a risk factor for cancer, compared to 89 percent. who recognized tobacco as a carcinogen.
Yet according to the Surgeon General’s report, after tobacco and obesity, alcohol consumption is the third leading preventable cause of cancer.
Dr Murthy said it is important to know that increasing alcohol consumption increases the risk. But each person’s cancer risk is different, depending on family history, genetic makeup and environmental exposures.
“I wish we had a magic cutoff that we could tell people is safe,” he said. “What we do know is that less is better when it comes to reducing your cancer risk.”
“If a person drinks occasionally for special occasions, or if you’re having one or two drinks a week, your risk may be significantly lower than if you’re drinking every day.”