Surgeon general's new warnings for drinking alcohol surprise many
MINNEAPOLIS — The new announcement from the U.S. surgeon general on the dangers of drinking alcohol surprised many.
The surgeon general reported that just one drink per week over a lifetime would raise your cancer risk significantly.
Dr. Silvia Balbo from the University of Minnesota says she's not surprised.
"The research has been very, very robust," Balbo said. "It really points to this risk being associated with even low amounts of alcohol."
The surgeon general's report considers all of the research already done, meaning it's a cumulative analysis.
"It's not the surgeon general making these studies or seeing these associations, it's really an analysis of all the research and all the science," Balbo said. "The evidence that we have at the moment is really looking at what happens when people are reporting their drinking over a long period of time."
The surgeon generally also says consuming alcohol increases the risk of seven types of cancer: mouth, throat, esophagus, voice box, breast, liver and colon.
For women, less than one drink a week over a lifetime increases breast cancer risk by 11%, one drink a day bumps the risk to 13% and two drinks a day increases the risk to 15%.
Balbo says she thinks it would be a good idea to have warning labels on alcohol bottles.
"It's still clear that less than 50% of Americans know about the connection and the risk that comes from drinking alcohol," Balbo said. "Clearly there is a lack of awareness."
In response to the surgeon general's report, The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States cited a report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASAM).
"The NASEM report concluded that, compared with never consuming alcohol, moderate alcohol consumption is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, but it did not find such associations for other types of cancer," said Amanda Berger, Distilled Spirits Council of the United States senior vice president of science and research. "The report also concluded that moderate alcohol consumption is associated with lower risks of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease, compared to never consuming alcohol."
The council does not recommend drinking to achieve health benefits.
Alcohol consumption is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States.