Alcohol linked to cancer rise
Twenty-four hour drinking and cheap alcohol is to blame for an "appalling" rise in cancers, experts have warned.
Bath MP Don Foster says it is time the Government considered the worrying correlation and addressed the problem.
The incidence of mouth cancer has gone up by 50 per cent over the past 10 years, with a 43 per cent rise in liver tumours. There have also been rises in breast and colorectal cancer.
Many experts are blaming alcohol consumption, which has doubled in the UK since the 1950s.
They are calling for tougher measures to crack down on two-for-one offers and price-cutting by supermarkets, as well as the current 24-hour drinking culture.
The latest official figures, obtained from Parliamentary questions by the Liberal Democrats show almost 5,000 people in England are diagnosed each year with oral cancers – a 53 per cent increase on 3,225 cases in 1997.
There was a 20 per cent jump in cancer of the gullet from 5,397 to 6,487.
Both types of cancer are linked to heavy drinking, with a fourfold rise in risk for men consuming more than seven drinks a day and women having five drinks or more a day.
Liver cancer cases went up over the same period from 1,925 to 2,754 – with this cancer two-and-a-half times more likely to affect heavy drinkers compared with people who do not drink.
Alcohol Concern chief executive Don Shenker said: "Many people are not aware of the connection between alcohol and cancer, yet it can be a major contributor or cause."
Mr Foster said: "Excessive drinking has been on the rise for years and these shocking figures show how dramatically the health problems of boozy Britain are escalating. Ministers cannot turn a blind eye to the terrible problems alcohol is causing."
2 Comments
by Shaun, The Pub
Wednesday, December 09 2009, 9:08PM
“Is Don going to add in the worrying correlation between drinking and Heart Disease as well.
There is a 30% reduction in heart disease amongst heavy drinking men (not women) according to the latest studies.
Or doesn't that saving to the NHS fit onto Dons bandwagon today.
If Don wants people to drink less he should do something about giving people something better to spend their money on like a family home funded by a stable job with future worth, not by being a kill joy and penalising the responsible drinkers.”
by anil, in the ghetto
Wednesday, December 09 2009, 5:56PM
“No government could ever legislate so that people take responsibility for their drinking. British habits and behaviours have now been exported elsewhere. Although authorities in my country take a hardline approach to drunken mayhem, ultimately, tourist income wins.
As someone living with stomach cancer, I was disheartened to meet many people in their 20s and 30s with liver complaints while I received my treatment. Everyone I spoke with was either a heavy or binge drinker. My cancer was not as a result of alcohol, so at least I can rule that out. Cancer is a lottery; if there was just one cause for it, then there would be a cure. Alcohol is a known danger, yet very few heed it.
Attempts to educate are often seen as dictatory and interfering. We apparently have a right to consume alcohol without any limits. It is often seen as being sociable and having a good time.
That may well be. My feeling is that we have a right to good health, not alcohol.
More at: drinkaware.co.uk/facts/factsheets/alcohol-and-your-liver”