U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued an advisory earlier this month sounding the alarm on the link between alcohol consumption and various kinds of cancer.
The 22-page advisory summarizes the research into the link, as well as providing a suite of recommendations for addressing the issue.
One suggestion reworks the recommended limits for alcohol consumption, with cancer risk in mind. Another requires healthcare providers to inform their patients in clinical settings about the link, as well as administering alcohol screenings.
The most notable guideline would update the current Surgeon General’s health warning label on alcohol products to include information about the risk of cancer, similar to labels on tobacco products.
“It’s something we have control of and we’ve known for decades now that the causal link between alcohol and cancer exists,” said Jeanna Rich, a Clinical Oncology Dietician at OSF Cancer Support Services.
Rich says she and her colleagues are “ecstatic” over a conscious effort to raise public awareness on the issue.
Experts say, across thousands of studies, there’s a demonstrated increase in risk for at least seven different types of cancer: breast, colorectum, esophagus, liver, mouth, throat and voice box.
Rich says these studies aren’t just built on observational data, correlating frequent alcohol use with cases of cancer. Rather, there’s observable changes to human anatomy. She uses an example related to esophageal cancer.
“Heavy alcohol use can cause reflux, or GERD [gastroesophageal reflux disease] as we know it,” said Rich. “So that’s bringing acid up into the esophagus, right?, which then erodes that tissue and makes it much more damaged and easier to then develop further disease there.”
In the case of breast cancer, alcohol can raise estrogen levels. The liver is responsible for filtering out alcohol and heavy drinking can deteriorate its function over time.
A notable detail of the advisory is the amount of alcohol that can contribute to increased risk. The Surgeon General says as little as a drink or less a day can contribute.
As an oncology dietician, Rich says she has conversations with her patients about how, when it comes to alcohol, less is always best.
“We have the conversation of their value system of their health … and figuring out where do you want to have that control and power over your health and in which area,” she said. “Is it addressing alcohol right now? Is it addressing our eating habits and other food products?”
It remains to be seen what impact the advisory will have. Implementation of the patient information requirements or the updated warning labels would require legislative action.
But Rich says she’s hopeful the advisory is a reflection of a growing societal realignment.
“In the nutrition world, it’s become a lot more popular for people to want to decrease their alcohol intake, right?” she said. “Sober January, mocktails, all of that has become more of a social trend, a viral trend.”
Rich says the most recent statistics say just 45% of American adults are aware of the links between alcohol consumption and cancer. It’s a statistic she and others in her field would like to see improve.
