Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Friday November 10 2017, @12:41AM   Printer-friendly
from the Yikes!-Cancer?-I-need-a-drink! dept.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has released a statement (open, DOI: 10.1200/JCO.2017.76.1155) (DX) discussing the links between alcohol consumption and cancer:

The statement provides evidence of a connection between light drinking and an increased risk of esophageal and breast cancer. Heavy drinkers face a much longer list of risks, including mouth cancer, throat cancer, cancer of the voice box, liver cancer, and colorectal cancer. That's a whole lot of cancers.

"The message is not, 'Don't drink.' It's, 'If you want to reduce your cancer risk, drink less," said Dr. Noelle LoConte, lead author of the statement. "And if you don't drink, don't start." She says this "subtle" take on the issue is somewhat less cautionary than the warnings about smoking. But the message rings the same.

The doctors behind the statement aimed to draw attention to what they view as a public health problem and advocate for a push towards better education and research.

Also at Medscape and ASCO (shorter press release).

Previously: Study Shows 3 Drinks a Day May Cause Liver Cancer

Related: Even Moderate Drinking Linked to a Decline in Brain Health
Researchers Make Alcohol Out of Thin Air
No Magic Pill to Cure Alcohol Dependence Yet
Early Age of Drinking Leads to Neurocognitive and Neuropsychological Damage


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
(1)
  • (Score: 2) by Snotnose on Friday November 10 2017, @12:45AM

    by Snotnose (1623) on Friday November 10 2017, @12:45AM (#594945)

    I am so dead :(

    --
    Why shouldn't we judge a book by it's cover? It's got the author, title, and a summary of what the book's about.
  • (Score: 1, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Friday November 10 2017, @12:48AM (4 children)

    by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Friday November 10 2017, @12:48AM (#594947) Homepage Journal

    That's what my brother would tell me. He was a great guy, a handsome person. He was the life of the party. He was a fantastic guy, but he got stuck on alcohol.

    • (Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Friday November 10 2017, @01:17AM (3 children)

      by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Friday November 10 2017, @01:17AM (#594963)

      And then there's me. I like a drink too, but in moderation and not daily.

      I don't give flying fuck what that study "provides evidence of" I like to have a couple of nice beers while I'm watching sport on TV a couple of times a week.

      My life would not be as much fun if I stopped, so I'm not going to stop.

      • (Score: 3, Touché) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday November 10 2017, @01:24AM

        by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Friday November 10 2017, @01:24AM (#594965) Homepage

        Life will be fun if you do what I did, embrace sobriety and Jesus*.

        * Also, racism

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @03:29PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @03:29PM (#595151)

        Spoken like a closeted alcoholic or somebody with mental problems.

        I haven't had a drink in over 15 years and unless you've got a really fucked up social life, it is indeed possible to go years without drinking and still have plenty of fun. Alcohol is a crutch and by no means necessary to have a good time.

        The things alcohol does are mostly things that can be classified as unnecessary and undesirable, it's just that there's all these people claiming that being drunk is fun, when really they mean that their lives suck and they need to forget.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @04:29PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @04:29PM (#595172)

          The things alcohol does are mostly things that can be classified as unnecessary and undesirable, it's just that there's all these people claiming that being drunk is fun, when really they mean that their lives suck and they need to forget.

          welcome to the u.s.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @01:05AM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @01:05AM (#594956)

    I shuda been dead, like couple decades ago.

    Making me light up again. American Spirit is the shit.

    Maybe it's the sushi and sashimi that keep me alive. Them Japs live a long ass time.

    • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Friday November 10 2017, @02:10AM (2 children)

      by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Friday November 10 2017, @02:10AM (#594989) Homepage Journal

      .. by mercury poisoning. Wikipedia cited two specific people.

      To eat them when dining out should be OK, but the two dead people ate them every day for twenty years.

      --
      Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @03:17AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @03:17AM (#595010)

        Oh well, I ain't dead yet. More raw fish for me.

        Actually, raw beef, too, with some sesame oil.

        But I ain't crazy. Some fools eat raw chicken - what dumb asses.

  • (Score: 2) by frojack on Friday November 10 2017, @01:11AM (5 children)

    by frojack (1554) on Friday November 10 2017, @01:11AM (#594957) Journal

    This flies in the face of hundreds of studies suggesting light to moderate alcohol consumption is actually health and extends life.

    There seems to be a requirement to end your study, regardless of your results, with an admonishment to never take a drink.
    Mostly because there exist people who may drink to excess.

    --
    No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @01:15AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @01:15AM (#594962)

      Define "excess".

      Wait, gotta go stock up again.

    • (Score: 1) by pTamok on Friday November 10 2017, @08:25AM (2 children)

      by pTamok (3042) on Friday November 10 2017, @08:25AM (#595063)

      This flies in the face of hundreds of studies suggesting light to moderate alcohol consumption is actually health and extends life.

      It would seem to, yes.

      But...

      If you understand the context here, you'll find out it is entirely compatible with that (unfortunately, probably incorrect - I'll come back to this) research.

      The first thing to notice is that this is a statement from the The American Society of Clinical Oncology - they are talking specifically about cancer risk.

      The research you refer to is epidemiological research which looks at all-cause mortality - not just cancer.

      In fact it is well known that alcohol is protective against cardiovascular events (like 'heart attack' and 'stroke'). So while alcohol increases your upper-digestive tract cancer risk (e.g. oesophageal cancer)((This is also already well known)), it protects against other causes of death. The epidemiological research shows that these effects balance out (pretty much), and most such research seems to indicate a 'J-curve' effect where drinking small-to-moderate amounts is overall protective - that is all-cause mortality figures for teetotallers is worse than for small-to-moderate drinkers.

      However...

      Epidemiological research in this area is hard to get right. You need to take into account all sorts of things that can skew your data - for example, some people are teetotal because they can't drink because they are too ill: and sometimes they are ill because of an alcohol induced disease like cirrhosis of the liver. It turns out that if you do the necessary corrections for this kind of thing, the 'J-curve' effect vanishes, and you get a normal dose-repose relationship: the more alcohol you regularly drink, the higher the all-cause mortality rate.

      So the lesson from this is: don't cherry-pick your data - concentrating on cancer risk while ignoring cardiovascular effects is not helpful: but also, make sure you have corrected for sources of skew in your data (this is hard).

      The paper showing the disappearance of the 'J-curve' is "Do “Moderate” Drinkers Have Reduced Mortality Risk? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Alcohol Consumption and All-Cause Mortality - Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 77(2), 185–198 (2016). [jsad.com]. It is good research. It will take a while to filter through into general consciousness.

      There's a commentary on the paper here: Moderate drinkers may not have reduced risk of all-cause mortality: a lifecourse perspective [bmj.com]

      And here is press release, which is quite readable, about the study: Public Release: 22-Mar-2016 Is moderate drinking really good for you? Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs [eurekalert.org]

      Full disclosure: I drink low-to-moderate amounts of alcohol, even knowing it is likely decreasing my life expectancy. I like drinking, and it is a bit irritating that I can no longer claim that drinking small amounts is good for me. Them's the breaks. Sláinte!

      • (Score: 2) by frojack on Friday November 10 2017, @09:21AM (1 child)

        by frojack (1554) on Friday November 10 2017, @09:21AM (#595075) Journal

        some people are teetotal because they can't drink because they are too ill: and sometimes they are ill because of an alcohol induced disease like cirrhosis of the liver. It turns out that if you do the necessary corrections for this kind of thing, the 'J-curve' effect vanishes,

        Sometimes?

        So the 6 people who gave up drinking because cirrhosis has them circling the drain, somehow hid a life of alcoholism, and got classified as a tee totaler, and totally overwhelmed the statistics of entire religions that never partake of alcohol from cradle to grave?

        Meta analysis!!!

        --
        No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @03:40PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @03:40PM (#595155)

          People in religions that never partake of alcohol also do other things not related to alcohol that tend to cause good health. Pinning it on alcohol is something that alcoholics love because it helps rationalize what they're doing.

          The 7th day adventists get used in studies like that all the time, but it's not just the lack of alcohol, they do numerous other things that are good for their bodies and get health that matches the work they put into it. Likewise, Mormons are hardly just cutting the alcohol out, they cut caffeine out and have a

          Here's a summary link of some religious dietary restrictions. Most of them bar alcohol and have other components that are firmly established to improve health. There's a couple that don't, but they aren't cited as having extraordinary health either.
          https://www.deseretnews.com/top/714/5/Mormonism-Dietary-guidelines-of-some-of-the-worlds-major-religions.html [deseretnews.com]

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @03:33PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @03:33PM (#595153)

      Simply put, those studies are full of shit.

      People who drink in moderation are far more likely to be healthy than people who either binge or abstain completely for the simple reason that people who abstain are frequently recovered alcoholics and those that binge are likely to wind up with health problems associated with drug abuse.

      This whole business about alcohol being health needs to stop. Alcohol is a poison that people largely tolerate in reasonable quantities. It is not now, nor has it ever been healthy. The main reason why so many people drink is because before we had the ability to treat and purify water, the alcohol in beers would kill most of the bacteria that were causing people to get sick. And even in that scenario, it's not that the alcohol was healthy, it was that it was less unhealthy than the alternative.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @01:13AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @01:13AM (#594959)

    Don't do heroin

    • (Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday November 10 2017, @02:13AM

      by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Friday November 10 2017, @02:13AM (#594992) Homepage

      Mick Jagger was afforded the same things, [dailymail.co.uk] but those which were previously found easily are now buried until said rockstars are dead. CIA tactics, really, like John McCain's or the Bushes' sordid pasts: Don't bring it up until they are already dead, then apply those rules upon everybody else.

  • (Score: 2, Informative) by rylyeh on Friday November 10 2017, @01:40AM

    by rylyeh (6726) <{kadath} {at} {gmail.com}> on Friday November 10 2017, @01:40AM (#594974)

    My great hope is that my cancers will wait till the appropriate treatments are available.
    👿

    --
    "a vast crenulate shell wherein rode the grey and awful form of primal Nodens, Lord of the Great Abyss."
  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by c0lo on Friday November 10 2017, @01:59AM (4 children)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday November 10 2017, @01:59AM (#594986) Journal

    If you want to avoid death by cancer, you should drink more. Like, a lot more.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @03:46AM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @03:46AM (#595014)

      Wanna avoid cancer? Die early. If you somehow manage to live long enough, cancer will get you.

      Remember, life causes cancer.

      • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday November 10 2017, @04:09AM (2 children)

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday November 10 2017, @04:09AM (#595024) Journal

        If you somehow manage to live long enough,

        ... you haven't drunk enough.
        Remember, with drinking time is not lost, just regrettable wasted (this includes sleeping while wasted)
        There's no better time for drinking like now.

        --
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
        • (Score: 1, Redundant) by c0lo on Friday November 10 2017, @04:10AM

          by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday November 10 2017, @04:10AM (#595025) Journal

          PS (GRI-hips!-IN)

          --
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @06:10AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @06:10AM (#595048)
          Wine is fine but whisky's quicker, suicide is slow with liquor.
  • (Score: 3, Informative) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Friday November 10 2017, @02:09AM (4 children)

    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Friday November 10 2017, @02:09AM (#594988) Homepage Journal

    ... because we don't hang out in bars.

    --
    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @02:11AM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @02:11AM (#594990)

      The top shelf pussy is in middle schools, not bars.

      • (Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @02:31AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @02:31AM (#594997)

        The top shelf pussy is in middle schools

        Forbidden. Unless, that is, if you are one of the Dick Niggers (grin)

        • (Score: 3, Funny) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday November 10 2017, @02:44PM

          by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Friday November 10 2017, @02:44PM (#595131) Homepage

          Yeah, but you don't wanna be messin wit' dose Dick Niggers -- they've been to prison many times and have been hardened into killing machines. The knockout game is the least of your worries. Remember the scientist from Terminator 2 who built the T-800? He was a Dick Nigger.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @10:02AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @10:02AM (#595081)

        that's simply not true. if you want to just stick it into something tight, get some fucking toys. if you want to get laid (=enjoy conversation and sex with another human being) a grown-up is always a better choice. for both activities.

  • (Score: 2) by stretch611 on Friday November 10 2017, @04:02AM (4 children)

    by stretch611 (6199) on Friday November 10 2017, @04:02AM (#595021)

    Let's see... Don't drink or you will die of cancer...

    About a year or two ago, all the news was that Bacon caused cancer as well...

    So don't drink or eat bacon or you will die of cancer.

    You know what, I am going to eat bacon and drink. I may die of cancer earlier, but damn it... WHAT IS THE POINT OF LIVING IF YOU CAN'T ENJOY IT???

    Not to mention eating red meat, smoking (I don't smoke, but some others may enjoy it) Staying out in the sun... f-ing nature... causes cancer. Get injured and have an X-ray and trying to help your health causes cancer. Worrying about cancer is probably another cause of cancer... everything else causes it.

    Maybe they should instead start telling people what doesn't cause cancer. The list will be shorter.

    Go... live your life, enjoy it, for tomorrow you may get killed by a car or countless other non-cancerous ways.

    If you do wind up with cancer... do what you can, but still go and enjoy life, as I said, whats the point otherwise?

    --
    Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @04:28AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @04:28AM (#595031)

      Yea, Ive been slowly realizing why so little (its improved a tiny bit recently, but still) is being done about the rampant phacking, etc these people are doing. Its pointless to reason with them, and they are just destroying their own credibility anyway. May as well just do your best to avoid them and whatever the current fad is. I wish there were fewer stories like this on soylent though.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @04:30AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @04:30AM (#595033)

      Also cell division (mitogenesis) causes cancer, that is why "living" causes cancer, more cells are used up the more you live. Im not exactly clear on why this is an offensive idea, but it is for some reason.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @09:57AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @09:57AM (#595080)

      I think it's safe to say that regular sex does not cause cancer (obviously you need to keep clean, don't overdo it, and in general stop if anything is hurting).

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @03:43PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @03:43PM (#595157)

      This kind of ignorance is ridiculous.

      Believe it or not, there are people out there that actually have the kind of diet that you're knocking that seem to have no particular problem enjoying life. Perhaps you ought to try it before you knock it. Fats, salt and sugar are easy flavors to appreciate. But, they're hardly the only ones out there. Having a refined sense of taste can take a bit of exploration, but if you're just enjoying unhealthy things, there are consequences.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @02:39PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @02:39PM (#595129)

    You can never smoke, exercise regularly, not drink, avoid gluten, and eat nasty-ass kale our whole life. Guess what?

    You're still going to die.

    Enjoy life while you're alive. There are no bonus points for dying healthy.

    • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @03:46PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @03:46PM (#595158)

      You die, but rather than having decades of misery from diabetes, stroke and dementia, you're likely to get to enjoy your later years for longer rather than living in a state of more or less agony through most of it.

      People like you are so incredibly short-sighted and it's why the nursing homes are so common. It's unnatural for somebody to approach the end of their life so slowly and with so much suffering. Obviously, you can't completely avoid that sort of fate, but if you're actually taking care of yourself, you can prolong the period of health well past middle age.

      What's more, the healthy habits that people push also increase the quality of life before that point as it allows people to make the most of what they want. If you've got a crap diet it comes out somewhere.

      • (Score: 3, Touché) by tangomargarine on Friday November 10 2017, @04:24PM

        by tangomargarine (667) on Friday November 10 2017, @04:24PM (#595169)

        It's unnatural for somebody to approach the end of their life so slowly and with so much suffering.

        I would argue that avoiding everything fun in life in order to make the end of it a bit better is the unnatural part. Natural death back in the middle ages was in your 50s from The Plague or unsanitized surgical tools or childbirth or war or etc. etc. etc.

        --
        "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @08:15PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @08:15PM (#595314)

        Enjoy your long, boring life.

        Hey, watch out for that bus!

        Opps, too late. Thanks for living.

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by tangomargarine on Friday November 10 2017, @04:21PM

    by tangomargarine (667) on Friday November 10 2017, @04:21PM (#595168)

    Other entries on the list of things that cause cancer:

    - Food without calories (artificial crap)
    - Food with calories
    - Going outside
    - Not going outside
    - Breathing

    --
    "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(1)