There’s no doubt America has a drinking problem, and now doctors are warning it could come with some serious consequences.
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Since the spring of last year, Americans have been drinking a whole lot of alcohol. Data from Nielsen showed a 54% spike in national alcohol sales last March and a survey from late 2020 found 75% of Americans upped their alcohol intake during the pandemic.
And a new study, published in The Lancet, shows a link between alcohol consumption and cancer. More than 700,000 new cancer cases were linked to alcohol in 2020.
The research revealed more than 4% of all new cancer cases in 2020 were directly connected to alcohol use, CBS News reported. While most cancer diagnoses were among those who imbibed more than twice a day, more than 100,000 cases worldwide were in people who averaged less than that.
“Alcohol is an irritant,” explained Dr. David Odell, a thoracic surgeon at Northwestern Medicine. “It irritates the lining of our mouth, of our throat, of our stomach. As our body tries to heal, sometimes, it heels in abnormal ways that can lead to the very beginnings of cancer.”
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A separate survey, conducted by researchers from Imperial College London and published in Nature Communications, found drinking alcohol could increase the risk of developing 11 types of cancer.
The study showed alcohol use “is a major risk factor for several cancers, including breast, CRC, esophageal, head and neck, and liver cancer.”
However, consuming at least one cup of regular or decaffeinated coffee per day could protect against liver cancer. Additionally, eating dairy and multigrain foods might reduce the risk of colorectal cancers, the research found.
“This umbrella review confirms the evidence we have for alcohol and coffee in relation to cancer,” said Giota Mitrou, director of research and innovation at the World Cancer Research Fund. “Further research needs to better understand the mechanisms involved in the links between coffee and cancer and cancer as well as between alcohol and different cancer subtypes.”
The researchers who conducted the study said the “beneficial effects of coffee consumption might be due to the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties” in it, which they said could “protect against diseases triggered by inflammation like cancer.”
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