The new study based on how much alcohol consumption affects an individual’s overall health sheds light on a new invention.
According to a recent finding, in BMC Public Health, weekly drinking one bottle of wine has the same impact of smoking five cigarettes for males and 10 cigarettes for females as far as cancer risk is concerned.
Investigators from the UK noted that, in nonsmokers group of people, drinking one bottle of wine per week is equivalent to a one percent increase in lifetime cancer risk for males and a 1.4 percent for females. The findings were based on data on alcohol-related cancers and tobacco-related cancers and available U.K. population and health data.
The aim of the study was to help people realize alcohol’s risk factor for developing cancer by measuring it. In fact, many people don’t know alcohol’s link to cancer, as per the researchers.
Lead study author Theresa Hydes stated, “Our estimation of a cigarette equivalent for alcohol provides a useful measure for communicating possible cancer risks that exploits successful historical messaging on smoking. We hope that by using cigarettes as the comparator we could communicate this message more effectively to help individuals make more informed lifestyle choices.”
The head of breast medical oncology, Francisco Esteva, who works at New York University’s Langone Perlmutter Cancer Center, mentioned, “This study attempts to quantify the risk of cancer associated with moderate alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking.”
Francisco Esteva told HuffPost, “Although it is an interesting statistical analysis, the study didn’t take into account the effects of alcohol and cigarette smoking on cardiovascular health and other organs. Comparing the cancer risks associated with a specific number of cigarettes to a bottle of wine is quite simplistic and may send the wrong message.”
A professor and the head of urologic oncology in Philadelphia, Alexander Kutikov, who was not affiliated with the study, said that there are many aspects with respect to this study and this comparison may be a very simple. Moreover, he agreed that these kinds of studies keep misplaced responsibility for developing the disease on a person diagnosed with cancer.
Professor Alexander Kutikov told HuffPost, “Importantly, at the extreme of this narrative lies the concept of blame.”
Professor Alexander said, “This is quite a common pitfall not only in popular culture but also in medicine. I personally believe it needs to be avoided. Cancer is an extremely complex disease, and some patients may receive this challenging diagnosis despite doing everything right, while many others can lead what one would view as careless lives and never develop malignancy.”
The researchers stated that many other side effects related to alcohol consumption and smoking were not examined. They can be heart problems, liver diseases or any other ailments. So, in other words, you need to think of a few other things before you stop drinking wine regularly. Alcohol consumption might not be the only reason behind developing the disease, but it could be a factor. It is important to at least quantify its use.
