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Dose-Dependent Link Between Alcohol and Certain Cancers

There is a correlation between the amount you drink and your risk of developing certain cancers.

Kristen Hovet
4 min readJul 6, 2018
Photo by Wine Dharma on Unsplash

Although moderate alcohol consumption is considered safe for adults, research into the link between alcohol consumption and leading cancers has found that there is a correlation between the amount you drink and your risk of developing certain cancers.

This is not to say that you should stop drinking, since occasional imbibing may provide a protective effect. In fact, recent research that followed 99,654 individuals found that those who never drink or those who drink infrequently have increased risk of death or developing certain cancers, along with those who are heavy drinkers. To be clear, the heavy drinkers had the highest risk of mortality or developing cancer, while the light drinkers had the lowest risk of mortality or developing cancer.

As drinking increased, the risk of alcohol-related cancers and death increased, too. The lowest risk was observed “at intakes between 1 and 5 drinks per week.”

Image: PLOS Medicine

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Kristen Hovet
Kristen Hovet

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