▎ WuXi AppTec content team editor
It is well known that drinking alcohol is harmful to health. And there are many studies that report that not only is there no safe dose of alcohol, but any form of alcohol will increase the risk of cancer.
Still, many young people struggle to resist the temptation of alcohol. Whether it is to use wine to dispel sorrows or raise a glass to celebrate, you can always see the shadow of alcohol. So, how harmful is alcohol consumption at a young age to health?
Recently, a study published in the International Journal of Cancer found that excessive alcohol consumption in youth (ages 20 to 39) increased the risk of cancer later in life, and even if alcohol consumption decreased in middle age and old age, long-term harm persisted.
Screenshot source: International Journal of Cancer
To investigate the relationship between lifetime drinking habits and alcohol-related cancers, the researchers analyzed data from 22,756 women and 15,701 men aged 40 to 69 years, and then assessed the association between the participants' lifetime drinking trajectory from age 20 and their risk of upper respiratory gastrointestinal, breast, liver, and colorectal cancer.
First, the researchers classified the drinking trajectories of women and men according to their drinking volume and drinking habits:
Women fall into three categories: not drinking alcohol for life (39 percent), drinking less consistently (54 percent), and increasing alcohol consumption to moderate (7 percent).
Men are divided into six categories: never drink alcohol for life (14.3%), drink less all the time (51.5%), drink moderate amounts (20.4%), drink more and more until heavy alcohol consumption (6.6%), drink heavily in youth but reduce alcohol consumption in middle age (40 to 49 years old) (5.1%), and drink heavily in youth until old age (60 to 69 years old) before gradually reducing alcohol consumption (2.2%).
Moderate alcohol consumption is defined as an average daily alcohol intake of 30 grams to 59 grams;
Heavy alcohol consumption is defined as an average daily alcohol intake of ≥60 grams.
The analysis found that a total of 2303 cases of alcohol-related cancer were diagnosed. Among them, the most common is colorectal cancer in men (83%), and the most common in women is breast cancer (64%) and colorectal cancer (31%).
In men, compared to participants who did not drink alcohol for life:
Early heavy alcohol consumption (an average of ≥60 grams of alcohol per day by age 20 to 39) greatly increases the risk of alcohol-related cancers whenever alcohol consumption is reduced. Specifically, those who continued to reduce alcohol consumption between the ages of 40 and 49 had a 75% increased risk of alcohol-related cancer (HR=1.75); those who only began to reduce alcohol consumption at the age of 60 to 69 had a 94% increased risk of alcohol-related cancer (HR=1.94);
Participants who drank more to more heavily (starting with an average daily alcohol intake of <60 grams at ages 20 to 39 and continuing to increase alcohol consumption to heavy drinking over time) also had a 45% increase in risk of alcohol-related cancer (HR =1.45).
In women, alcohol intake was about 20 g/day at age 20 compared to participants who abstained from alcohol for life, and gradually increased to about 40 g/day at age 50-59 years over time, associated with a 25% increase in the average risk of alcohol-related cancer (HR = 1.25). The increased risk of colorectal cancer (HR =1.23) and the increased risk of breast cancer (HR=1.30) were similar.
Image credit: 123RF
The paper concludes: Heavy drinking in early adulthood increases the risk of cancer compared to people who don't drink alcohol all their lives, even if they don't drink alcohol or consume less alcohol in middle age.
Study's corresponding author, Dr Julie Bassett of the Cancer Epidemiology Division, Cancer Council Victoria, noted: "While restricting alcohol consumption in midlife is important for cancer prevention, our study demonstrates that limiting alcohol consumption in early adulthood is also important. ”