The Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. Vivek Murthy, has urged authorities to update the health warnings on alcoholic beverages. The surgeon issued a new warning on Friday informing Americans that alcohol consumption can increase their risk of cancer.
After tobacco and obesity, alcohol is the third preventable cause of cancer in the U.S., according to the U.S. Surgeon General's office. The physician pointed out that the relationship between alcohol consumption and the risk of cancer is well established for at least seven types of cancer: breast, colon, esophagus, liver, mouth, throat, and larynx. And the risk remains regardless of the type of alcohol consumed, and increases with higher consumption.
What did the Director General of Health of the United States say about alcohol consumption?
"Alcohol is a well-established and preventable cause of cancer, responsible for approximately 100,000 cancer cases and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the United States, greater than the 13,500 alcohol-related traffic accident deaths per year in the U.S. However, most Americans are unaware of this risk," Murthy said in a statement.
In addition to cancer, a report from December by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine concluded that moderate alcohol consumption—two drinks per day or less for men and one for women—may be associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular diseases. It was also observed that moderate alcohol consumption was associated with a higher risk of certain types of cancer.
For cancers such as breast, mouth, and throat cancer, the risk can start to develop with as little as one or fewer drinks per day, according to the Office of the Surgeon General of the United States.
One positive aspect, however, is that at least young adults in the U.S. have started to view alcohol consumption as less healthy. According to a Gallup survey in August, “almost half of Americans say that having one or two drinks a day is bad for a person’s health”; this is the highest percentage recorded in the 23 years of the survey.