"...among 100 women who have less than one drink per week, about 17 will develop an alcohol-related cancer."
How does this insane number get unnoticed for so long. I really find it hard to believe. < One drink per day more dangerous than smoking a pack per day?
Edit: Ok, looked into the reference and it's a bit more subtle, though I can't find numbers for people not consuming anything, allthough one would think they'd get 0% alcohol related cancers.
"For example, a study of 226,162 individuals reported
that the absolute risk of developing any alcohol-related cancer over the lifespan of
a woman increases from approximately 16.5% (about 17 out of every 100 individuals)
for those who consume less than one drink per week, to 19.0% (19 out of every 100
individuals) for those who consume one drink daily on average to approximately
21.8% (about 22 out of every 100 individuals) for those who consume two drinks
daily on average (Figure 5). That is about five more women out of 100 who would
have developed cancer due to a higher level of alcohol consumption."
Pretty significant, although "less than one drink per day" is a bit vague.
asah · 6m ago
Hahaha there's the rub.
This data is self reported of course, and "one drink daily" are people who actually drink a lot more.
If you actually drink less than daily, very little to worry about AFAICT.
PeterStuer · 7m ago
How did they establish causality, or is it just a correlation potentially resulting from hidden variables? E.g., I do not know many smokers that do not touch alcohol, but plenty of non smoking abstinates. I also know plenty of sedentary obese heavy drinkers, where a higher percentage of the teetotal lot are more health obsessed in other ways.
pixelpoet · 16m ago
I wish the popular and completely absurd phrase "drugs and alcohol" would become outdated.
Somehow alcohol always gets separate consideration and categorisation, while most people would laugh if asked "is moderate tobacco/meth/ecstasy/whatever use healthy?"
malablaster · 14m ago
You’d be hard pressed to convince me to consume a class 1 carcinogen in moderation for health benefits.
deadbabe · 19m ago
There is no amount of alcohol that is good for you. It is a toxin that only harms your body. The rising popularity and creativity of mocktails shows that people can still have a fun drink that doesn’t involve poisoning their body.
And if you use alcohol for social lubrication, you only screw yourself over by never learning how to truly socialize and let go of inhibition naturally.
PeterStuer · 2m ago
Seeing the amount of sugar and sweeteners in the "mocktails" and alcohol free beers/wines, I'd say it most certainly does involce poisoning your body.
How does this insane number get unnoticed for so long. I really find it hard to believe. < One drink per day more dangerous than smoking a pack per day?
Edit: Ok, looked into the reference and it's a bit more subtle, though I can't find numbers for people not consuming anything, allthough one would think they'd get 0% alcohol related cancers.
"For example, a study of 226,162 individuals reported that the absolute risk of developing any alcohol-related cancer over the lifespan of a woman increases from approximately 16.5% (about 17 out of every 100 individuals) for those who consume less than one drink per week, to 19.0% (19 out of every 100 individuals) for those who consume one drink daily on average to approximately 21.8% (about 22 out of every 100 individuals) for those who consume two drinks daily on average (Figure 5). That is about five more women out of 100 who would have developed cancer due to a higher level of alcohol consumption."
Pretty significant, although "less than one drink per day" is a bit vague.
This data is self reported of course, and "one drink daily" are people who actually drink a lot more.
If you actually drink less than daily, very little to worry about AFAICT.
Somehow alcohol always gets separate consideration and categorisation, while most people would laugh if asked "is moderate tobacco/meth/ecstasy/whatever use healthy?"
And if you use alcohol for social lubrication, you only screw yourself over by never learning how to truly socialize and let go of inhibition naturally.