3 ms·
It’s not just correlation. We do have a good reason to expect that alcohol causes cancer. First, we see increased cancer in areas the alcohol and decomposition
by elil17 4y ago
It’s not just correlation. We do have a good reason to expect that alcohol causes cancer. First, we see increased cancer in areas the alcohol and decomposition products touches/interacts with (mouth, esophagus, colon, liver, etc.). The exception is the breast cancer correlation, but there is an explanation for that too (based on a secondary metabolic pathway). We don’t see, for example, alcohol causing lung cancer or brain cancer. Second, we know alcohol breaks down into likely carcinogens.
- cjbgkagh 4y agoThat makes sense. It seems that the main carcinogen of concern is Acetaldehyde which I was unaware of. That's also in milk and fruit juice, but I figure 'the dose makes the poison'. I do think a lot of people are self medicating and really wish that area was better researched.
- elil17 4y agoYeah, we're talking mg/kg of acetaldehyde for apples. You would end up with perhaps 12 grams of acetaldehyde in your system from a single standard drink (probably about 0.85 grams acetaldehyde/gram ethanol). It's like comparing the radiation dose of a banana to a stroll through the Chernobyl exclusion zone.