Alcohol is responsible for 4 out of every 100 cancer cases

Ground Report | New Delhi: Alcohol is responsible; Alcohol is responsible for about 4.1 percent of the new cases of cancer in the world. The information has recently come to the fore in a research published in the journal Lancet Oncology. If we look at the released data, alcohol was the reason behind 741,300 cancer cases reported worldwide during 2020.

Of these, about 76.7 percent or 568,700 cases were reported in men alone. At the same time, this figure was 172,600 in women. In terms of which organ cancer spread due to alcohol was the most, about 189,700 cases of cancer have been reported in the esophagus or esophagus, followed by 154,700 cases of liver cancer and about 98,300 cases of breast cancer. have come. 

Alcohol is responsible for cancer cases

Alcohol harms health in many ways, one of them being cancer. Despite this, it is widely consumed. It is known to all that drinking too much alcohol can cause cancer, but how much quantity is responsible for cancer has also been clarified in the research. 

ALSO READ: WhatsApp banned 20 lakh accounts in India

This demonstrates "the need to put in place effective policies and interventions to raise public awareness of the link between alcohol consumption and cancer risk, and to reduce its overall consumption," said a Circ official, Dr. Isabelle Soerjomataram.

The study listed at least seven cancers whose risk is increased by alcohol consumption: oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, colon-rectum, liver, and breast in women (that is, 6.3 million cases in 2020).

Crossing these data with those of alcohol consumption by country a decade ago (the time it took for this disease to be declared), the researchers calculated that 741,300 of these cancers (that is, 4% of the total number of new cancer cases in the world in 2020) could be directly related to alcohol.

"In 2020, the types of cancer with the highest number of new cases linked to alcohol consumption were esophagus (190,000 cases), liver (155,000 cases), and breast cancer in women (98,000 cases)", according to the Circ.

ALSO READ: Rajasthan: Disputed plaques on Haldighati war removed

However, this study has its limitations, The Lancet Oncology noted in a news release. On the one hand, it does not consider the interruption of care due to the covid pandemic, which may have led to the underdiagnosis of some cancers last year.

In addition, it does not take into account interactions between alcohol consumption and other elements, such as tobacco or obesity, to which cancers can also be attributed.

Addiction to excessive drinking responsible for 47% of cases 

According to the report, while per capita alcohol consumption has decreased in many European countries, especially Eastern Europe, on the contrary, alcohol use has increased in Asian countries such as China, India, and Vietnam and many countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Used to be. According to the report, where the highest number of cases were reported in Mongolia, China, Moldova, and Romania. While Kuwait, Libya, and Saudi Arabia had the least number of cancer cases due to drinking alcohol.

This is why East Asia had the highest incidence of cancers caused by alcohol, about 5.7 percent. This figure was recorded in Africa at 0.3 percent and West Asia at 0.7 percent.

In such a situation, researchers advocate for effective policy for reducing and reducing alcohol consumption to reduce the increasing cancer cases. However, this will be possible only when people understand its dangers and decide to quit or reduce the intake of their own free will.

Mongolia is the country with the highest incidence of new alcohol-related cancers (10%, 560 cases). In Kuwait, a Muslim country where alcohol consumption is prohibited, it is the lowest (a little more than 0%, 5 cases).

This proportion is estimated at 5% in France (20,000 cases), 4% in the United Kingdom (16,800), 3% in the United States (52,700) and even 4% in Germany (21,500).

In addition, men account for about three-quarters of all alcohol-attributable cancer cases (567,000 cases).

You can connect with Ground Report on Facebook, Twitter, and Whatsapp, and mail us at [email protected] to send us your suggestions and writeups.