Heavy drinking culture blamed for surge in oral cancers
Growing numbers of 40-somethings are developing mouth, lip and tongue cancer because they drink too much alcohol, Cancer Research UK warns today. Diagnoses of oral cancer have gone up by 28% among men in their 40s and 24% among women the same age since the mid-1990s. The charity says tobacco does not explain the rise, as it takes up to 30 years to cause cancer. Instead it blames rising alcohol consumption. Alcohol campaigners responded by calling for cans and bottles to carry cigarette-style health warnings which spell out the risks of drinking too much as a way of reversing the trend. "These latest figures are really alarming", said Hazel Nunn, the charity's health information manager. Three-quarters of cases of oral cancer are caused by either smoking or drinking alcohol, tobacco being the single biggest risk. "For people in their 40s, it seems that other factors are also...
Read the whole article on The Guardian - Science
More from The Guardian - Science
Related
- Alcohol and smoking are key causes for bowel cancerTue, 2 Jun 2009, 0:29:03 EDT
- Alcohol 'flush' signals increased cancer risk among East AsiansMon, 23 Mar 2009, 10:45:26 EDT
- Alcohol-induced flushing is a risk factor for esophageal cancer from alcohol consumptionMon, 23 Mar 2009, 9:08:04 EDT
- Acetaldehyde in alcohol -- no longer just the chemical that causes a hangoverFri, 20 Mar 2009, 12:57:39 EDT
- Georgetown researcher: 2 or more drinks a day may increase pancreatic cancer riskTue, 3 Mar 2009, 13:31:19 EST