4 ms·

3 drinks a day can trigger liver cancer; coffee offsets it

24 points by antimora 12y ago

erispoe 12y ago
I wonder what's the interaction between the two, that's not described in the article. Can you alleviate the risks of drinking alcohol by also drinking coffee? Irish coffee anyone?
- jp_rider 12y ago
  It's been shown that caffeine shortens telomeres, while alcohol lengthens them [1]. This could be the reason why they offset each other. [1] - http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131205142127.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131205142127.ht...
Cyph0n 12y ago
Haha, makes me feel sorry for people who drink alcohol. It's basically the same as smoking - "how many cigarettes a day keeps me away from lung cancer?". Instead of asking that question, why not just stop? The fact that alcohol is such a norm is something I don't get. Let's not even mention its other helpful side-effects. Edit: Keep the downvotes coming. <3 hivemind
- erispoe 12y ago
  Drinking 3 drinks a day, the amount necessary to have an effect on liver cancer according to the study, makes you pretty much an alcoholic, not just part of the vast number of people "who drink alcohol".
  - Cyph0n 12y ago
    Great to hear then.
  - erroneousfunk 12y ago
    3 drinks a day is about 15% of all Americans... http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/09/25/think-you-drink-a-lot-this-chart-will-tell-you/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/09/25/t...
  - _s 12y ago
    I don't think alcoholism can be defined by the quantity of consumption but a persons dependency on alcohol itself, and how it impacts or impairs their day-to-day life / relations / functions.
    - erispoe 12y ago
      It's about developing an addiction. And addiction is a function of regularity, for alcohol. Day-to-day impact is not necessarily a good measure because it can have no negative impact at all as long as you have access to the product. A well-behaved addiction under normal circumstances is an addiction nonetheless.
- diego 12y ago
  You may be surprised to know there's evidence that moderate consumption of alcohol has health benefits, especially for the heart. Of course, excessive alcohol intake is known to be detrimental. http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/alcohol/art-20044551 http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/nutrition-and-healt... Interestingly the same can be said for aerobic exercise. 30 minutes of aerobic exercise four times per week has positive health effects. Running 100 miles per week (the training schedule of a serious marathon runner) is bad in the long run (pardon the pun). Of course, all this is for an average person. If you have a family history of liver cancer or alcoholism, it's probably a good idea to be a teetotaler. If you have bad joints, certain heart conditions or are too heavy it's possible that running is a net negative for you.
  - nbouscal 12y ago
    There is also evidence that moderate consumption of alcohol has health detriments. And of course, there's evidence that the benefits outweigh the detriments, and also evidence that the detriments outweigh the benefits. I haven't seen anyone do a good job of putting these together (in e.g. a funnel plot), but as far as I can tell the only justifiable conclusion at this stage is that we really don't know.
    - Lost_BiomedE 12y ago
      At some point you have to weigh risks and benefits for yourself personally. Sometimes this is due to incomplete information or because it is a grey area issue. You may want to use all cause mortality which says under a drink a day is optimum versus none or more. Or if you are male, you may want higher alcohol consumption due to the heart benefits, where you are of higher risk of a disease that tends to kill earlier than cancer. It is grey area depending on the individual, their genetics, and their wishes, IMO.
- russianbandit 12y ago
  I'm with you. HN hivemind is getting as bad as Reddit's.
- lucaspiller 12y ago
  I think the downvotes are due to the sarcastic tone of your comment, but none the less you do raise an interesting point. 70 years ago people probably felt that there was nothing wrong with smoking, I wonder if drinking alcohol will end up in the same boat.
beefsack 12y ago
A reminder to take medical news from mainstream press with a grain of salt.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]

24 points by antimora 12y ago

I wonder what's the interaction between the two, that's not described in the article. Can you alleviate the risks of drinking alcohol by also drinking coffee? Irish coffee anyone?

jp_rider 12y ago
It's been shown that caffeine shortens telomeres, while alcohol lengthens them [1]. This could be the reason why they offset each other. [1] - http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131205142127.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131205142127.ht...

Cyph0n 12y ago

Haha, makes me feel sorry for people who drink alcohol. It's basically the same as smoking - "how many cigarettes a day keeps me away from lung cancer?". Instead of asking that question, why not just stop? The fact that alcohol is such a norm is something I don't get. Let's not even mention its other helpful side-effects. Edit: Keep the downvotes coming. <3 hivemind

erispoe 12y ago
Drinking 3 drinks a day, the amount necessary to have an effect on liver cancer according to the study, makes you pretty much an alcoholic, not just part of the vast number of people "who drink alcohol".
- Cyph0n 12y ago
  Great to hear then.
- erroneousfunk 12y ago
  3 drinks a day is about 15% of all Americans... http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/09/25/think-you-drink-a-lot-this-chart-will-tell-you/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/09/25/t...
- _s 12y ago
  I don't think alcoholism can be defined by the quantity of consumption but a persons dependency on alcohol itself, and how it impacts or impairs their day-to-day life / relations / functions.
  - erispoe 12y ago
    It's about developing an addiction. And addiction is a function of regularity, for alcohol. Day-to-day impact is not necessarily a good measure because it can have no negative impact at all as long as you have access to the product. A well-behaved addiction under normal circumstances is an addiction nonetheless.
diego 12y ago
You may be surprised to know there's evidence that moderate consumption of alcohol has health benefits, especially for the heart. Of course, excessive alcohol intake is known to be detrimental. http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/alcohol/art-20044551 http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/nutrition-and-healt... Interestingly the same can be said for aerobic exercise. 30 minutes of aerobic exercise four times per week has positive health effects. Running 100 miles per week (the training schedule of a serious marathon runner) is bad in the long run (pardon the pun). Of course, all this is for an average person. If you have a family history of liver cancer or alcoholism, it's probably a good idea to be a teetotaler. If you have bad joints, certain heart conditions or are too heavy it's possible that running is a net negative for you.
- nbouscal 12y ago
  There is also evidence that moderate consumption of alcohol has health detriments. And of course, there's evidence that the benefits outweigh the detriments, and also evidence that the detriments outweigh the benefits. I haven't seen anyone do a good job of putting these together (in e.g. a funnel plot), but as far as I can tell the only justifiable conclusion at this stage is that we really don't know.
  - Lost_BiomedE 12y ago
    At some point you have to weigh risks and benefits for yourself personally. Sometimes this is due to incomplete information or because it is a grey area issue. You may want to use all cause mortality which says under a drink a day is optimum versus none or more. Or if you are male, you may want higher alcohol consumption due to the heart benefits, where you are of higher risk of a disease that tends to kill earlier than cancer. It is grey area depending on the individual, their genetics, and their wishes, IMO.
russianbandit 12y ago
I'm with you. HN hivemind is getting as bad as Reddit's.
lucaspiller 12y ago
I think the downvotes are due to the sarcastic tone of your comment, but none the less you do raise an interesting point. 70 years ago people probably felt that there was nothing wrong with smoking, I wonder if drinking alcohol will end up in the same boat.

beefsack 12y ago

A reminder to take medical news from mainstream press with a grain of salt.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]