Contents:
- Medical Video: Does smoking or drinking increase my risk for colorectal cancer? - Dr. Russell Heigh
- How can alcohol increase the risk of cancer?
- How much do you drink alcohol per day that can cause cancer?
- Drink 1 glass every day
- Drink 4 or more glasses every day
- Drink 3 glasses every day
- Drink 10 grams of alcohol every day
Medical Video: Does smoking or drinking increase my risk for colorectal cancer? - Dr. Russell Heigh
One rule of a healthy lifestyle is to limit consumption of alcoholic beverages. Why is that? Because alcohol can actually increase the risk of cancer. According to Susan Gapstur, vice president of epidemiology at the American Cancer Society, which was reported by the New York Times, alcoholic beverages have been classified as carcinogens since 1987. There have been many successful studies showing the link between alcohol consumption and cancer in the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, colorectal, liver and breast.
According to The Truth About Cancer, several studies show that people who smoke and drink at the same time are at greater risk of getting cancer. Whereas according to a study in 2009, around 3.5% of all cancer-related deaths in the United States can be linked to alcohol consumption.
How can alcohol increase the risk of cancer?
Alcohol is believed to increase the risk of getting cancer in various ways, such as:
First. In the body, ethanol contained in alcoholic beverages will be broken down into acetaldehyde. This substance is a toxic chemical and can be carcinogenic (causing cancer) in humans that damages DNA and cellular proteins.
Second. Alcohol is a free radical, a molecule that damages DNA, protein, and fat in the body through a chemical reaction known as oxidation.
Third. Alcohol consumption can interfere with the body's ability to absorb and use various nutrients that prevent cancer, such as vitamin A, vitamin B complexes such as folate, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E, and carotenoids.
Fourth. Alcoholic beverages can increase estrogen levels, which are sex hormones associated with a higher risk of breast cancer.
How much do you drink alcohol per day that can cause cancer?
Drink 1 glass every day
The habit of drinking a glass of beer or other alcoholic drinks has a risk of two to three times greater risk of oral cancer, laryngeal cancer, esophageal cancer.
Drink 4 or more glasses every day
This drinking habit has a risk of liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma) and pancreatic cancer. Alcohol consumption is the main cause of liver cancer. Too much alcohol metabolism in the liver is believed to increase the risk of liver cancer through the production of dangerous reactive oxygen, increased activity of cytochrome enzymes in the liver, and decreased absorption of antioxidants due to disruption of intestinal absorption.
Drink 3 glasses every day
This drinking habit increases the risk of breast cancer by up to 1.5 times. In fact, for every 10 grams of alcohol consumed every day, the risk of breast cancer increases by 7%.
Drink 10 grams of alcohol every day
A senior researcher, Dr. Eunyoung Cho from Brown University in Providence found that consuming alcohol with as much as 10 grams of alcohol per day can increase the risk of basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, which are the two main types of non-melanoma skin cancer.
Basal cell skin cancer (basal cell carcinoma) is by far the most common form of skin cancer, accounting for about 8 out of 10 cases that often occur.
