Germana Carillo A massive Korean study links increased alcohol intake to higher cancer risk across multiple types, reinforcing calls for lifestyle changes to prevent disease.
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- Increasing alcohol intake can sharply raise the risk of developing multiple forms of cancer, according to one of the largest studies of its kind carried out in South Korea. The message is simple, if not exactly cheerful: more drinks, more danger.In the fight against cancer, prevention is often the most powerful weapon. That means reducing — or, better yet, eliminating — risk factors. Some are obvious, such as obesity, smoking, and heavy drinking. Others hide in plain sight, like air pollution, traffic congestion, and poor waste management. The more these stressors pile up, the harder our bodies have to fight to repair the damage.
And alcohol, researchers say, is a battle you can choose not to fight.
The Korean study
A team of scientists in South Korea tracked a colossal cohort of over 4.5 million people, first assessing them between 2009 and 2011, then following up for as long as seven years. The pattern they saw was stark: those who increased their beer, wine, or liquor consumption also increased their chances of both developing cancer and dying from it.
The risk didn’t limit itself to one or two types. Mouth, throat, and larynx cancers were more common, as were cancers of the esophagus, colon, rectum, liver, stomach, and, in women, the breast. In other words, alcohol’s shadow is long.
The caveats
The U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) praised the study’s sheer size and its clear link between lifestyle change and long-term health benefits. But they also noted its limits. The dataset began only in 2007, leaving out earlier habits that might have shaped cancer risk. Crucially, it measured only alcohol use — other lifestyle shifts during the study period, like diet changes or exercise habits, went unrecorded.
There’s also a genetic wrinkle: East Asian populations tend to have fewer of the enzymes needed to metabolize alcohol efficiently, which can amplify its harmful effects. That means these findings, while striking, must be tested across other ethnic groups before they can be universally applied.
The takeaway
Even with those caveats, the study adds weight to decades of evidence linking alcohol and cancer. It also supports the idea that dramatic lifestyle changes can lengthen life expectancy. As the NCI put it, the Korean team offered “an additional demonstration that a radical change in lifestyle can have extremely positive effects and increase the chance of survival.”
Maybe it’s time to dust off that old folk saying: stick to just one beer a day — about 16 ounces (500 ml) — or skip the alcohol entirely. There’s even research suggesting that non-alcoholic beer might boost gut health and benefit your heart. Not exactly the wildest Friday night, but perhaps one of the wisest.
Source: Jama Network
