February 18, 2021

What is the mechanism by which alcohol is related to the risk of colorectal cancer?

A study by the National Cancer Center has shown that alcohol increases the risk of colon cancer.

 

 

This data is based on a survey of about 100,000 men and women over the age of 35, over a period of about 10 years.

Alcohol Content and Cancer Risk

According to the results of this study, if your average daily alcohol intake exceeds 23 grams, you are more likely to develop cancer of the colon or rectum.

Looking at this data in more detail, the risk of colorectal cancer is about 1.5 times higher for both men and women when comparing those who do not drink alcohol at all to those who consume about 23 grams of alcohol per day.

And if we look at the data for those who consume more than 23 grams of alcohol per day, we can see that the risk increases by about 10 percent for each additional 15 grams of alcohol consumed.

Furthermore, about 25 percent of male patients with colorectal cancer may have developed colorectal cancer due to heavy alcohol consumption (more than 23 grams of alcohol per day). Conversely, about 25 percent of these patients could have prevented colorectal cancer if they had controlled their alcohol intake properly.

Although there are still some factors other than alcohol consumption that contribute to colorectal cancer in this study, it is safe to say that the effect of alcohol on colorectal cancer is fully reflected in the figures, considering the size of the population of 100,000 men and women.

It’s not just colorectal cancer.

In fact, research institutes around the world, other than the National Cancer Center, are conducting research on the relationship between alcohol and various diseases, not limited to colon cancer. In other words, research is being conducted to find out what kind of diseases increase when people drink too much alcohol, and what kind of location cancers increase.

According to the data, laryngeal cancer, pharyngeal cancer, esophageal cancer, stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer, colon cancer, and breast cancer all increase.

So why does the risk of colon cancer and other cancers in various parts of the body increase so much?

Let’s talk about the mechanism by which alcohol affects the development of cancer.

Alcohol that is absorbed by the body is metabolized by the liver to acetaldehyde. This is a very strong poison that rusts the body.

With moderate amounts of alcohol consumption, acetaldehyde is further broken down by the liver into a harmless substance called acetic acid, but in the case of excessive amounts of alcohol consumption, the liver cannot fully break it down and it increases in the bloodstream.

In other words, all of the genes in the cells where the blood containing acetaldehyde flows are damaged. What happens when the genes are damaged is that cancer will occur in the long run.

This is why excessive alcohol consumption can cause cancer.

Be careful how much alcohol you drink.

Even though alcohol can cause cancer, it is also said to be the “best of all medicines”. In fact, epidemiological studies have proven that people who drink a little alcohol have a lower mortality rate and live longer than those who do not drink at all.

For example, people in the regions of France that drink a lot of red wine are less likely to suffer from diseases such as myocardial infarction, atherosclerosis, and angina pectoris, even though they smoke a lot and eat a lot of fat.

However, if you drink too much, the risk of cancer increases and the mortality rate rises, as I have already mentioned.

Therefore, it is important to keep in mind that you should drink in moderation. A good rule of thumb is one medium beer bottle (500ml), one gou (180ml) of sake, one double shot (60ml) of whiskey or brandy, 0.4 gou (72ml) of shochu, and two glasses (240ml) of wine per day.

However, the strength of alcohol differs from person to person, and if you are aware that you are weak in alcohol, it means that your ability to break down aldehydes is weak, so please keep your intake even lower than the guideline.

If you are aware that you have a weakness for alcohol, it means that you have a weak ability to break down aldehydes. If you do this, alcohol will be the best of all medicines and will help you live longer.

Reference: National Cancer Center: https://epi.ncc.go.jp/can_prev/evaluation/793.html

 

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