Upon issuing a comprehensive report, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy is advocating for a significant change in how we think about alcohol and is calling for new warning labels that would inform consumers about its cancer risks.
Current bottles carry warnings about pregnancy and driving, but they don’t mention cancer. Yet alcohol stands as the third leading preventable cause of cancer in America, right behind tobacco and obesity.
“Despite decades of compelling evidence of this connection, too many in the public remain unaware of alcohol’s risk,” said Dr. Bruce Scott, president of the American Medical Association.
The numbers tell a sobering story: in the U.S. nearly one million preventable cancer cases in the last decade were linked to alcohol. That translates to about 100,000 new cases each year, with 20,000 people losing their lives annually to alcohol-related cancers.
Research shows it doesn’t matter if you’re sipping wine, beer, or spirits – all types of alcohol increase the risk for at least seven types of cancer, including liver, breast, and throat cancer.
What’s more concerning is that even drinking within current guidelines can increase cancer risk.
“For individuals, be aware that cancer risk increases as you drink more alcohol,” Murthy wrote on social media. “As you consider whether or how much to drink, keep in mind that less is better when it comes to cancer risk.”
While Congress would need to approve these new warning labels – and the alcohol industry, which spends nearly $30 million annually on lobbying, is likely to resist – the message is clear: we need to be informed about the risks.
Research has shown that the more alcohol a person drinks — particularly the more a person consumes regularly, over time — the greater the risk of cancer. But even what we think of as “light” or “moderate” drinking, like one drink a day, increases the risk of some cancers.