Annual cancer deaths linked to alcohol have doubled in the United States in the last three decades, increasing from just under 12,000 a year in 1990 to more than 23,000 a year in 2021, discover new research.
The increase was driven by deaths in men 55 years of age or older, the study authors said.
It occurs when the deaths from US cancer. UU. In general they have fallen by approximately 35% during the same period of time, according to data from the American Cancer Society.
The findings will be presented next week at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago and have not yet been published in a peer reviewed magazine.
“This is death instead of getting a disease. We can treat many cancers, and we are improving that, but this is really taking home the point that people die from cancer due to alcohol,” said Jane Figueireo, a medical professor at the Samuel Oschin Institute of Cancer in Cedars-Sinai, which was not involved with the investigation.
The study focused on seven alcohol -related cancers: sinus, liver, colorectal, throat, voice box, mouth and esophageal. Alcohol is not responsible for all cases of these cancers, but it has been shown to be a driving factor in a percentage of them.
“When people think of alcohol, they do not necessarily think it is a carcinogen such as tobacco,” said Dr. Michael Siegel, professor of public health and community medicine at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Tufts, which did not participate in the study.
But it is. Once in the body, alcohol breaks down in acetaldehyde, a carcinogen that is also found in tobacco smoke. Alcohol damages DNA and facilitates that the mouth and throat absorb other carcinogens.
The International Cancer Research Agency, a branch of the World Health Organization, classified alcohol as a carcinogen in 1987. Research. At that time, he linked the drink with the cancers of the head and neck (including the mouth, the throat, the voice box and the esophagus) and the liver cancers. Since then it has been related to breast and colorectal cancers.
A January report of former American general surgeon said alcoholic beverages should come with cancer warning labels. According to who, there is no safe amount of alcohol consumption.
New research found that in 1991, 2.5% of all cancer deaths in men and 1.46% in women were related to alcohol. In 2021, these percentages increased to 4.2% and 1.85%, respectively.
During that same period of time, men saw a 56% increase in alcohol -related cancers specifically. For women, it was almost 8%.
“It was not surprising that it was higher in men, but it was undoubtedly surprising how much there were women versus women,” said the study of the study, Dr. Chinmay Jani, head of hematology and oncology at the Integral Sylvester Cancer Center of the University of Miami. Historically, men have tended to start drinking alcohol before life, said Jani and his team.
However, sex consumption habits based on sex seem to be changing. In recent years, a growing number of women has become heavy nightmares, and research has discovered a little more young women than men.
The deaths of the seven alcohol -related cancers increased among men in 47 states, and in 16 states for women. In both groups, deaths among people living in New Mexico increased more: almost 60% for men and 18% for women. Oklahoma, for men and Tennessee, for women, were second.
Washington DC and New York saw the greatest decreases for men, and Massachusetts and New York for women. Utah remained the state with the lower alcohol -related cancer deaths.
Cancer deaths were higher among people over 55. In men in this age group, alcohol -related cancer deaths increased by more than 1% each year between 2007 and 2021.
“The carcinogenic effect probably does not affect it immediately at its earliest age, but as it continues to drink as it ages, this carcinogen has a cumulative effect on the body,” said Jani.
Of the seven alcohol -related cancers, liver cancers, colorectal and esophageal were the most mortal in general in 2021. In men specifically, liver cancer deaths were more common. For women, it was breast cancer.
“We know that even small amounts of alcohol can affect the breast fabric,” Figueiredo said.
Jani said that the next research phase should decipher how different racial and ethnic groups are affected by alcohol differently when it comes to cancer risk.
“The enzyme that metabolizes alcohol is lower in some ethnic groups than in others, so acetaldehyde, carcinogen in alcohol, is higher in these people,” Jani said.
Alcohol consumption in the United States reached its maximum point in the late 1970s and fell until the late 90s, the data of the National Institute on Alcohol and Alcoholism Abuse are shown. Drink also increased abruptly during pandemic, as well as alcohol -related deaths.
Siegel said that messages around alcohol should go from drinking responsibly to ensure that people understand the effects on health that even moderate consumption can pose.
“It’s not that we are telling people that they can’t drink. Each person has the autonomy of making their own decisions,” Siegel said. “But we want to make sure they are well informed based on the facts instead of the wrong concepts.”
