Hey, Alcohol biz: The 90's called. They want their liars back.

Sept. 2017 research by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden has revealed the extent to which the alcohol industry is denying alcohol's causal role in cancer. In other words, the alcohol industry has torn a page from the tobacco playbook of two decades ago to take a 3-D approach to marking a known carcinogen: Deny. Distort. Distract.

In an infamous Congressional hearing in 1994, the leaders of the tobacco industry (pictured above) swore under oath that nicotine was not addictive and that smoking did not cause cancer. Notable among them was Andrew Tisch, then CEO of the Lorriland brands of smokes. The executives denied conclusions of a consensus of independent scientists and health experts that their product caused cancer. It was later revealed that the companies knew the cancer link decades before their Congressional 'come-to-Jesus' meeting and the Tobacco Settlement three years later.

Here we are again.

Over the past two decades, numerous studies have shown a strong link between even moderate drinking and cancer. (See related A-Files segments on the cancer connection: Episode B: Breast Cancer video transcript, Episode C: Cancer video  transcript and Episode Z: Zero Health Benefit video transcript, as well as the book I Can't See the Forest With All These Damn Treesin the Way: Health Consequences of Alcohol.) Bottom line: Scientists estimate that alcohol is responsible for at least four percent of new cancer diagnoses annually. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services lists it as a known carcinogen. You wouldn't know it by listening to the alcohol industry. But would you really expect your mother-in-law to be a fair arbiter of your marital dispute?

The study authors looked at 30 websites from alcohol trade groups in the U.K., Europe, the U.S., Canada and Australia. One – The Wine Information Council – even claimed that wine actually protects against several forms of cancer including breast, lung and kidney. Another – U.S.-based International Alliance for Responsible Drinking – said that light to moderate drinking was 'not ‘significantly' associated with an increased risk of tumors.

The authors said the tactics used by the alcohol industry were very similar to those used by tobacco firms for 50 years to play down the risk of lung cancer and were particularly misleading about the link between breast cancer. Alcohol use is the only dietary link to an increase risk of breast cancer.

Professor Mark Petticrew, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, concluded: "The weight of scientific evidence is clear that drinking alcohol increases the risk of some of the most common forms of cancer. Our analysis suggests that the major global alcohol producers may attempt to mitigate this by disseminating misleading information about cancer through their 'responsible drinking' bodies.

"This has obvious parallels with the global tobacco industry's decades-long campaign to mislead the public about the risk of cancer, which also used front organizations and corporate social activities.”

The alcohol industry response is that the research was 'misleading' and said they were already advising consumers to drink responsibly. As if it were possible to consume a toxin and carcinogen 'responsibly.' Henry Ashworth, president of the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking, said: ”We do not agree with the conclusions reached in this paper. We stand by the information that we publish on drinking and health.” That sounds an awful lot like Tisch's statement that, “Smoking does not cause cancer.”

Public awareness of alcohol/cancer connection is low. It has been argued that greater public awareness, particularly of the risk of breast cancer, poses a significant threat to the alcohol industry. So we trudge back to the 90's and dig up some lies that only flew within the board rooms and marketing departments of companies profiting from the unobstructed flow of the drug, alcohol.

Deny. Distract. Distort.

The alcohol industry has the normal duty of any manufacturer to ensure that it does not market a defective product and that its products are as safe as possible. Alcohol – a toxin and known carcinogen – is not safe in any amount, for either gender, at any age.

Scott Stevens, is the author of five alcohol books including the acclaimed Look What Dragged the Cat In: The Rise of an Opioid Crisis. Get the new BookLocker title now on Amazon (viewbook.at/gatewaydrug), alcohologist.com, and everywhere you buy books.  Click Alcopocalypse for the author’s 2017 Alcohol Awareness Month whitepaper. Image by Kevin Carden, used with permission.

The A-Files, Alcohol A-Z for Alcohol Awareness Month: Cancer

Twenty-six episodes of 'The A-Files' will run throughout Alcohol Awareness Month on YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Alcohologist.com andAddictedMinds.com, among other web and social media sites. Episode C covers alcohol's role as a carcinogen.

Nearly 30 years ago, in 1987, the first links between cancer and alcohol were determined. It's a known carcinogen in the Department of Health and Human Services's Report on Carcinogens based on evidence in human, not rodent, studies. Yet, today only one in ten users realize this drug is a carcinogen. Alcohol is implicated in several types of cancer. As a previous episode of The A-Files indicated, alcohol use is the ONLY dietary factor increasing the likelihood of getting breast cancer. It's linked to seven other cancers: Colon, Liver, Stomach, Esophagus, Larynx, Pharynx and Mouth. Alcohol is the number two cause of oral cancers.

The metabolism of alcohol – a toxin – produces an even more hazardous toxin: Acetaldehyde. This chemical has been shown to create changes at the molecular level in human tissue, creating a greater susceptibility to the rapid cell growth that characterizes a cancer. People with the disease of alcoholism and “social” drinkers share the same cancer risk. The risk only goes up with the quantity of alcohol. In 2012 research published in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research noted, “Alcohol’s role as a dietary carcinogen emerged quite clearly,” said the lead researcher. An older study put the numbers at an estimated 75 percent of esophageal cancers in the U.S. are attributable to chronic, excessive alcohol consumption and nearly 50 percent of cancers of the mouth, pharynx, and larynx are associated with heavy drinking.

Each of the eight cancers can be fatal, and about one in 25 cancer deaths in the U.S. is attributable primarily to alcohol use, while in many more, alcohol is a secondary cause. “Most deaths seemed to occur among people who consumed more than three alcoholic drinks a day, but those who consumed 1.5 beverages daily may account for up to one-third of those deaths,” says Dr. Timothy Naimi, an associate professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. "Alcohol is a big preventable cancer risk factor that has been hiding in plain sight." Naimi's Boston University study in the American Journal of Public Healthdetermined that alcohol-related cancer death took away an average of 18 potential years from a person's life. Naimi said, “When it comes to cancer, there is no safe level of alcohol consumption."

The entire 26 episode HD series is available on disc, along with fact sheets, for helping professions. See the preorder special at tr.im/AFiles

Visit alcohologist.com for a replay of CBS Sports' Power Up Your Health featuring Scott Stevens.  Another interview is on Alcohol Awareness.  Syndicated radio program Savvy Central Radio did this interview, too. Lucy Pireel's "All That's Written" included a feature called "When alcohol doesn't work for you anymore."  Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud and the first for Adding Fire to the Fuel also can be found on www.alcohologist.com. Download the FREE Alcohology app in the Google PlayStore today. Stevens also is the public relations officer with AddictedMinds.com 

Alcohol: A carcinogen hiding in plain sight

Alcohol is a carcinogen.  Even moderate alcohol use may substantially increase the risk of getting and dying from cancer.  Alcohol use accounts for about 3.5 percent of all U.S. cancer deaths annually, according to a study I summarized almost three years ago. Most deaths seemed to occur among people who consumed more than three alcoholic drinks a day, but those who consumed 1.5 beverages daily may account for up to one-third of those deaths, the researchers found.  (Video at YouTube and the online transcript)

Researchers examined seven types of cancers known to be linked to alcohol use: cancers of the mouth and pharynx, larynx, esophagus, liver, colon, rectum and female breast. Breast cancer accounted for the most common alcohol-related cancer deaths among women, contributing to 15 percent of all breast-cancer deaths. Alcohol remains the only dietary factor leading to an increased breast cancer risk.  Among men, cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx and esophagus accounted for the most alcohol-linked cancer deaths.

"The relationship between alcohol and cancer is strong, but is not widely appreciated by the public and remains underemphasized even by physicians," according to a Boston University alcohol researcher (see related 2013 article).  Alcohol is a big preventable cancer risk factor that has been hiding in plain sight.  Not just for those with the disease of alcoholism:  Alcoholics and “social” drinkers share the same cancer risk.  When it comes to cancer, there is no safe level of alcohol use.

News reports in August 2015 claimed the cancer link is new… however, it's been in all three books on www.alcohologist.com , predating the "breaking" news by five years – the first definitive links between alcohol and cancer go back to 1987 – and the connection between alcohol use and breast cancer has been examined since the 1920's. The toxin is listed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as a human carcinogen… and has been since 2000.  Yet, according to two studies, (one featured in an Examiner.com article 19 months ago) only 25 to 35 percent of the public knows this fact.

Among the alcohol/cancer links cited in these books from various evidence-based studies were:
• “significantly” higher risks for cancers of the pharynx, oral cavity and larynx. In fact, a previous episode demonstrated alcohol is the second-leading cause of mouth cancers.
• alcohol users are 1.6 times more likely to develop pancreatic cancer, the most fatal of cancers.
• an estimated 75 percent of esophageal cancers in the U.S. are attributable to alcohol consumption.
• breast cancer risks increase 10 percent for every 10 grams of alcohol consumed daily. That’s about one drink, as reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) November 2, 2011. Women who consumed even “modest” amounts of alcohol (equivalent to 3-6 glasses of wine per week) were linked with a 15 percent increase of developing the disease. Researchers also found that the increased risk of breast cancer for those who drank at least two drinks daily was 51 percent higher compared to women who never drank alcohol.
• Men who consumed an average of more than four drinks per day were 65 percent more likely to develop stomach cancer than men who were very light drinkers or abstainers.

Stevens is Director of Marketing for The Manor.  Visit alcohologist.com for a replay of CBS Sports' Power Up Your Health featuring Scott Stevens.  Host Ed Forteau led a discussion on risky myths of about "healthy" drinking.  Lucy Pireel's "All That's Written" included a feature on Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud called "When alcohol doesn't work for you anymore."  Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud also can be found on www.alcohologist.com, plus the NEW book, Adding Fire to the Fuel, is now available. Download the FREE Alcohology app in the Google PlayStore today.

Alcohol IS a carcinogen

The Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) uses Feb. 4 as World Cancer Day to focus on debunking the myths about the world's leading killer. For 2014, the organization emphasizes the fifth point in their World Cancer Declaration: "Reduce stigma and dispel myths about cancer." One of many myths is that drinking alcohol is safe.

In 1987, the first links between cancer and alcohol were determined. According to advocacy group Drink Wise, today only 36 percent of adults are aware that alcohol is a carcinogen.

Alcohol is implicated in several types of cancer. For example, one out of eight women will have an encounter with breast cancer and alcohol use is the ONLY dietary factor increasing the likelihood of getting breast cancer.

Breast cancer risks increase 10 percent for every 10 grams of alcohol consumed daily. That’s about one drink. Women who consumed even “modest” alcohol (equivalent to 3-6 glasses of wine per week) were linked with a 15 percent increase of developing the disease. Researchers also found that the increased risk of breast cancer for those who drank at least 30 grams of alcohol per day on average (at least two drinks daily) was 51 percent higher compared to women who never drank alcohol.

In addition, when the researchers looked at alcohol consumption levels between the ages 18 to 40 and after the age of 40, they discovered that both were strongly linked with an increased risk of breast cancer. The connection with alcohol consumption still remained even after controlling, reducing or quitting alcohol consumption after the age of 40.

People with the disease of alcoholism and “social” drinkers share the same cancer risk for several other types of cancer. The risk goes up with the quantity of alcohol. In 2012 research published in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research identified “significantly” higher risks for cancers of the pharynx, oral cavity and larynx and higher rates for cancers of the esophagus and rectum. “Alcohol’s role as a dietary carcinogen emerged quite clearly,” said the lead researcher. An older study put the numbers at an estimated 75 percent of esophageal cancers in the U.S. are attributable to chronic, excessive alcohol consumption and nearly 50 percent of cancers of the mouth, pharynx, and larynx are associated with heavy drinking.

According to Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology, alcohol misuse results in abnormalities in the way the body processes nutrients and may subsequently promote certain types of cancer later in life. Alcoholism also has been associated with suppression of the immune system. Immune suppression makes you more susceptible to various infectious diseases and, theoretically, to cancer. (from Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud)

Even moderate alcohol use may substantially increase the risk of dying from cancer, according to a new study published in Feb. 2012 in the American Journal of Public Health. Alcohol use accounts for about 3.5 percent of all U.S. cancer deaths annually, according to the study. “Most deaths seemed to occur among people who consumed more than three alcoholic drinks a day, but those who consumed 1.5 beverages daily may account for up to one-third of those deaths,” the researchers concluded. Dr. Timothy Naimi, an associate professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine, said in a Boston University release. "Alcohol is a big preventable cancer risk factor that has been hiding in plain sight."

The study (see related examiner.com article) determined that alcohol-related cancer death took away an average of 18 potential years from a person's life. Naimi said. “When it comes to cancer, there is no safe level of alcohol consumption."
-- from examiner.com (See full article)

www.alcohologist.com

Lucy Pireel's "All That's Written" included a feature on Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud called "When alcohol doesn't work for you anymore."  Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud, plus the new radio interview replay is available at alcohologist.com... and please read the new interview with Scott Stevens at Christoph Fisher Books.  Mr. Fisher is an acclaimed international historical fiction novelist from the UK.