4 ms·

We're talking about cancer risk here, not toxicity or effects on blood sugar. As far as I understand (as someone with no medical background), exposure is exposu

• nikolay 6y ago
  Well, I wonder how many of these studies have found a cause or just associations. I can tell you that most drinkers greatly underestimate how much they actually drink and even further if they have to report it to another person, so, a survey will always show people as moderate drinkers! Also, most regular drinkers have other unhealthy habits! Toxicity and cancer risks are also both about the dose. We all have cancerous cells in us, but they become a problem if they survive and grow (and by growing they get a bigger chance of mutating to the level they can trick the immune system). A cancer developers over the course of many years, except certain types, of course. Definitely alcohol is not an immediate killer - there are much worse things, but here we want to vilify one millenniums-old habit as the root of all evils!
• 08-15 6y ago
  > exposure is exposure Because damage to DNA adds up, and that's what causes cancer, right? Turns out, DNA is constantly being repaired, because it constantly suffers chemical insults, mostly from reactive oxygen species. A carcinogen is dangerous once it overwhelms these repair mechanisms, and for that, it clearly makes a difference whether you take a single large dose or many small ones.
  • nikolay 6y ago
    And that's why hormesis works and explains a variety of phenomena that small amounts of disruptions is good to keep your mechanisms ready to take on challenges.