Almost half of adults in the North East are drinking enough alcohol to raise their cancer risk - and a top doctor has warned that too much booze is connected to higher rates of at least seven cancers.
Dr James Crosbie is the clinical lead for alcohol in the North East and North Cumbria and a consultant gastroenterologist at the South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Trust. He said that while it was vital to share the stark message - that if you drink more you cancer risk rises - and highlight that it is something members of the public can change.
This comes amid a survey conducted on behalf of campaign group Balance which found 47% of North East adults are drinking more than the recommended amounts a week. Shockingly just one in three are aware that alcohol causes cancer.
The figures are based on more than 900 people quizzed as part of Balance's "2022 Perceptions Survey" on their drinking habits and understanding of the risks. The campaign group has now launched a campaign designed to highlight the direct link between booze and cancer.
A chemical caused by the way our bodies break down alcohol into a chemical called acetaldehyde. This can damage our DNA. Dr Crosbie added: "The fact is the more you drink alcohol, the more you increase your risk of developing cancer. But cutting down on alcohol can help to reduce that risk.
"People are often very surprised to learn the link between alcohol and very common cancers that many of us worry about, like bowel and breast cancer. And even moderate levels of drinking can increase those risks."
Dr Crosbie said the connection between alcohol and cancer was "perhaps less obvious" than with smoking, but that it had a profound impact on our region - especially given the high-rates of alcohol-related illness.
He added: "The message is that alcohol is a risk factor for cancer, we know this. The more you drink the more you increase that risk. But the really important thing is that alcohol is a modifiable risk factor - there are some risk factors you can't change, for example if something runs in your family, but alcohol is something you can do something about."
The Balance survey found 47% of adults in the North East are drinking above the Chief Medical Officer’s "Low Risk Drinking Guidelines" of no more than 14 units per week. Sue Taylor, the group's head of alcohol policy, added: "It is hugely concerning that so many of us in the region are drinking above the low risk guidelines and home drinking is fuelling this.
"We know that during worrying times people can turn to alcohol as a coping mechanism and we are already seeing a devastating impact on our region’s health and frontline services, not least the NHS.
Alice Wiseman, Director of Public Health for Gateshead, added that the impact of excessive drinking was disproportionate - but that raising awareness would not be a "silver bullet". She said more needed to be done around making buying booze more expensive and tackling advertising on a national level.
She added "As with Covid, the bulk of alcohol harm falls on the most deprived in our communities. Unlike smoking we often overlook the risks of alcohol. We don’t see warnings on the bottle or can, and we don’t see national advertising campaigns informing people about the risks."
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