DRINKING OVER RECOMMENDED LIMIT' RAISES CANCER RISK'

Drinking over recommended limit 'raises cancer risk'

     Many people do not know that drinking alcohol can increase their cancer risk. Drinking more than a pint of beer a day can substantially increase the risk of some cancers, research suggests. The Europe-wide study of 363,988 people reported in the British Medical Journal found one in 10 of all cancers in men and one in 33 in women were caused by past or current alcohol intake. More than 18% of alcohol-related cancers in men and about 4% in women were linked to excessive drinking. The Department of Health said it was taking action to reduce drinking.Cancer charities say people should limit their drinking to lower the risk. The study calculated that in 2008 current and past drinking habits were responsible for about 13,000 cancer cases in the UK, out of a total of 304,000 cases.

                Previous research has shown a link between alcohol consumption and cancers of the oesophagus, liver, bowel and female breast. When alcohol is broken down by the body it produces a chemical which can damage DNA, increasing the chance of developing cancer. The latest research found that individuals who drank more than two standard drinks a day for men and one drink a day for women were particularly at risk of alcohol-related cancers.

Click to plaDr Kat Arney, Cancer Research UK: "The more you drink, the greater the risk"A standard drink contains about 12g of alcohol, which is equivalent to a 125ml glass of wine

Yet NHS guidelines are a little more relaxe                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Of the cancers known to be linked to alcohol, the researchers suggest that 40% to 98% occurred in people who drank more than the recommended maximum. The results were gathered as part of a study following 363,988 men and women in eight European countries aged between 35 and 70. The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer study tracked their levels of drinking and how this affected their risk of cancer. Researchers then looked at figures on how much people drank in each country, including the UK, taken from the World Health Organization. The study focused on France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece, Germany, Denmark and the UK. Madlen Schutze, lead researcher and study author, from the German Institute of Human Nutrition, said that many cancer cases could be avoided if alcohol consumption was limited.(BBC)

 Prof. John Kurakar