Alcohol is a CARCINOGEN!
ALCOHOL IS A CARCINOGEN
Being the son of a coal miner, I had the experience of witnessing, first hand, the devastating results of alcoholism from a very young age. Coal miners had few luxuries and little entertainment, but the "gin mill" was one place they could count on for friendship, dancing, drinking and commingling with others with similar problems and lifestyles.
In college I took a post-graduate course offered by the Institute on Alcoholism to learn more about this societal problem. I learned that it is often the case that the victims of alcoholism grow up to develop the same problem they faced as children.
There was much evidence to indicate that the predisposition to alcoholism might be passed on. I had determined at a very young age that I would not fall victim to the same problem as my father. It took a lot of will-power as I grew into my late teens and early twenties, but it only took a look backwards to the nightmares of my youth with a father crying for forgiveness for his addiction. My mother was a strong-willed individual and would eventually give my father the choice of stopping the habit or living alone. He conceded, knowing that nothing meant as much to him as the life he enjoyed as a family man, a father and a husband. When ever he faced serious consequences he found the right answer and it became part of his nature to simply say "No."
People associate excess alcohol ingestion with liver cirrhosis and brain cell damage. Two of my uncles, both coal-miners, died from cirrhosis of the liver. It was not uncommon in the small Hamlet where I was born. Men who worked hard in the confines of a dark, cold and dangerous environment found some comfort in the bottle.
However, alcohol inflicts a more insidious effect. Epidemiological studies clearly show that those who consume large amounts of alcohol have sharply increased risks of certain cancers. They also appear to have difficulty with speech and begin to take on the look of an alcoholic. Deep ridges form in their faces and their physical coordination appears to be adversely affected. Like most drugs, alcohol is toxic and so addictive it brings on a mandate - requiring more ingestion to quiet the anxiety brought on by any attempt to break the habit.
But, this article, is more about what we don’t know about alcohol: The carcinogenic effects of excess alcohol ingestion. Some guidance as to what one may do to reduce alcohol’s damaging effects can be helpful to those caught in this terrible dilemma, and their families may find comfort in understanding.
Despite the widespread use and social acceptance, alcohol is one of the 10 leading causes of death and injury in developed countries, according to the Institute for Alcohol Studies in Cambridgeshire, England. It is well-known that England also enjoyed a booming economy for the coal miners. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that alcohol causes 1.8 million deaths worldwide each year, with the highest proportions occurring in the Americas and Europe.
My friend from France tells me that Frenchmen are reducing their reliance on the ingestion of wine, while he sipped on a glass of French wine in a family restaurant at lunch. No judgement intended, only an observation that reinforces my belief that it may be a disease, and out of the control of those with the predisposition passed on to them through their lineage.
"Alcohol was estimated to cause, worldwide, 20 - 30% of esophageal cancer, liver disease, epilepsy, motor vehicle accidents and homicide and other intentional injuries," the WHO noted in its 2002 World Health Report. An estimated 63% of US adults drank alcohol in the past year. Alcohol abuse occurs in approximately 6% of Americans, and may affect 10 - 20% of the population at some point in their lives. Untreated alcoholism has been estimated to reduce life expectancy by as much as 15 years.
In its 2000 Report on Carcinogens,, the US Department of Health and Human Sciences listed alcohol as a known human carcinogen that can cause cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, and esophagus. The risk is greatest amongst smokers and heavy drinkers. They seemed to me to go hand in hand - the two addictions, smoking and drinking, are often accompanied by gambling and womanizing - in my own opinion. Cancers of the oral cavity and upper airway frequently go undiscovered until their latter stages, when the death rate is very high; surgical treatment of these malignancies can cause disfigurement and difficulties with speech, chewing, and swallowing. The Report on Carcinogens further noted that evidence suggests a link between alcohol consumption and cancers of the liver and breast.
The use and misuse of alcohol may also wreak havoc with the brain and the nervous system. Peripheral neuropathy—marked by pain, tingling, and loss of sensation and muscle strength in the extremities—is often the first sign of alcohol dependence. Alcohol can also have extensive and far-reaching effects on the brain, including contributing to memory lapses and cognitive impairment.
Clearly, alcohol is a major toxin that can contribute to cancer, stroke and neurodegenerative decline. Guarding against the effects of this lethal chemical is crucial to promoting optimal well-being. Other conditions, such as infection with the hepatitis B or C virus, obesity, type II diabetes.
When abstinence is impractical or undesirable, it is possible to counteract some of the harmful effects of alcohol consumption. Scientists have identified several natural agents that counteract alcohol’s adverse effects on the liver.
Once ingested, alcohol must be eliminated by the body. Like other toxins, however, it must be transformed within the body before it can be safely removed. This transformation, or metabolism, of alcohol involves two major steps. First, it is oxidized to an intermediary compound, acetaldehyde, through the action of an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase, or a secondary enzyme, catalase. This initially takes place, to a small extent, in the stomach, and then, to a much greater extent, in the liver. After ethanol (alcohol) is converted to acetaldehyde—a compound even more toxic than alcohol—another enzyme, aldehyde dehydrogenase, converts acetaldehyde to acetate, which is eventually converted to harmless carbon dioxide and water.
Due to the gender-related difference, women are affected more profoundly than men by equivalent doses of alcohol, and are also more susceptible than men to the threat of developing fatty liver, cancer, cirrhosis of the liver and brain damage when they drink.
African-Americans have been dying of liver cirrhosis at a greater rate than whites, of comparable age, for the last 40 years. However, neither men nor women enjoy any relative advantages when it comes to projecting against the toxic effects of the powerful 1-hydroxy-ethyl radical.
Because alcohol has substantial caloric value (7.1 calories per gram), it may displace ordinary nutrients in the diet, including antioxidants such as vitamin C, thereby causing primary malnutrition. Secondary malnutrition can occur later in the course of chronic alcohol use, when food is no longer properly digested and absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract.
Long-term alcohol abuse often leads to a condition known as cirrhosis, which is responsible for the high rate of mortality among heavy drinkers. While liver disease was long thought to be caused by malnutrition, scientists eventually demonstrated that alcohol causes cirrhosis even in the absence of nutritional deficiencies. Liver cirrhosis was the twelfth leading cause of death in the US in 2000.
Chinese studies demonstrated chlorophyllin’s remarkable protective effects against liver cancer. Middle-aged people at high risk of contracting liver cancer served as subjects in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled chemoprevention trial tested whether chlorophyllin could affect levels of the dietary toxin aflatoxin in the subjects’ livers. Nearly 200 adults were randomly assigned to ingest 100 mg of chlorophyllin or a placebo three times daily for four months. Subjects who took chlorophyllin lowered their load of the studied carcinogen by 55%. The investigators estimated that this could help protect these adults from developing cancer for 20 or more years beyond the age when liver cancer commonly occurs, thus extending life significantly in this Chinese population.
Ironically, a constituent of wine may hold one of the keys to protecting the liver against alcohol-induced damage. Found in a variety of foods such as cranberries, peanuts, and grapes, resveratrol is a natural antioxidant. Abundant in red wine, it is believed to play an important role in the purported benefits of moderate wine consumption. This was especially interesting to me, as I observed my father’s gradual use of small amounts of wine in his 60s and 70s, rather than beer or hard liquor.
Barley green extract has also been credited with reducing damage from alcohol’s oxidation to acetaldehyde in the body. Young green barley leaves contain flavonoid antioxidants, including the flavone-C-glycosides saponarin and lutonarin. Studies have shown that barley green extract inhibits the generation of superoxite and hydroxyl radicals in a dose-related manner.
While moderate alcohol consumption—particularly of resveratrol-rich-red wine—may benefit the cardiovascular system, chronic alcohol abuse is anything but healthful. As it turns out, I learned at the early age of 7 years-old that I was allergic to my grandfather’s homemade red wine. It caused profuse sweating, a headache and a beet red flush, in combination with severe joint and muscular pain - for no less than one hour after ingestion. It was a lesson well learned. I could not ingest either wine nor beer (fermentation) for the rest of my life. And so you know the rest of the story. I have never consumed a glass of beer or wine in my 67 years. Ironic and yet true, this son of a coal miner could not fall victim to the disease that plagued his father because mother nature prohibited it - in a most painful way.
Being the son of a coal miner, I had the experience of witnessing, first hand, the devastating results of alcoholism from a very young age. Coal miners had few luxuries and little entertainment, but the "gin mill" was one place they could count on for friendship, dancing, drinking and commingling with others with similar problems and lifestyles.
In college I took a post-graduate course offered by the Institute on Alcoholism to learn more about this societal problem. I learned that it is often the case that the victims of alcoholism grow up to develop the same problem they faced as children.
There was much evidence to indicate that the predisposition to alcoholism might be passed on. I had determined at a very young age that I would not fall victim to the same problem as my father. It took a lot of will-power as I grew into my late teens and early twenties, but it only took a look backwards to the nightmares of my youth with a father crying for forgiveness for his addiction. My mother was a strong-willed individual and would eventually give my father the choice of stopping the habit or living alone. He conceded, knowing that nothing meant as much to him as the life he enjoyed as a family man, a father and a husband. When ever he faced serious consequences he found the right answer and it became part of his nature to simply say "No."
People associate excess alcohol ingestion with liver cirrhosis and brain cell damage. Two of my uncles, both coal-miners, died from cirrhosis of the liver. It was not uncommon in the small Hamlet where I was born. Men who worked hard in the confines of a dark, cold and dangerous environment found some comfort in the bottle.
However, alcohol inflicts a more insidious effect. Epidemiological studies clearly show that those who consume large amounts of alcohol have sharply increased risks of certain cancers. They also appear to have difficulty with speech and begin to take on the look of an alcoholic. Deep ridges form in their faces and their physical coordination appears to be adversely affected. Like most drugs, alcohol is toxic and so addictive it brings on a mandate - requiring more ingestion to quiet the anxiety brought on by any attempt to break the habit.
But, this article, is more about what we don’t know about alcohol: The carcinogenic effects of excess alcohol ingestion. Some guidance as to what one may do to reduce alcohol’s damaging effects can be helpful to those caught in this terrible dilemma, and their families may find comfort in understanding.
Despite the widespread use and social acceptance, alcohol is one of the 10 leading causes of death and injury in developed countries, according to the Institute for Alcohol Studies in Cambridgeshire, England. It is well-known that England also enjoyed a booming economy for the coal miners. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that alcohol causes 1.8 million deaths worldwide each year, with the highest proportions occurring in the Americas and Europe.
My friend from France tells me that Frenchmen are reducing their reliance on the ingestion of wine, while he sipped on a glass of French wine in a family restaurant at lunch. No judgement intended, only an observation that reinforces my belief that it may be a disease, and out of the control of those with the predisposition passed on to them through their lineage.
"Alcohol was estimated to cause, worldwide, 20 - 30% of esophageal cancer, liver disease, epilepsy, motor vehicle accidents and homicide and other intentional injuries," the WHO noted in its 2002 World Health Report. An estimated 63% of US adults drank alcohol in the past year. Alcohol abuse occurs in approximately 6% of Americans, and may affect 10 - 20% of the population at some point in their lives. Untreated alcoholism has been estimated to reduce life expectancy by as much as 15 years.
In its 2000 Report on Carcinogens,, the US Department of Health and Human Sciences listed alcohol as a known human carcinogen that can cause cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, and esophagus. The risk is greatest amongst smokers and heavy drinkers. They seemed to me to go hand in hand - the two addictions, smoking and drinking, are often accompanied by gambling and womanizing - in my own opinion. Cancers of the oral cavity and upper airway frequently go undiscovered until their latter stages, when the death rate is very high; surgical treatment of these malignancies can cause disfigurement and difficulties with speech, chewing, and swallowing. The Report on Carcinogens further noted that evidence suggests a link between alcohol consumption and cancers of the liver and breast.
The use and misuse of alcohol may also wreak havoc with the brain and the nervous system. Peripheral neuropathy—marked by pain, tingling, and loss of sensation and muscle strength in the extremities—is often the first sign of alcohol dependence. Alcohol can also have extensive and far-reaching effects on the brain, including contributing to memory lapses and cognitive impairment.
Clearly, alcohol is a major toxin that can contribute to cancer, stroke and neurodegenerative decline. Guarding against the effects of this lethal chemical is crucial to promoting optimal well-being. Other conditions, such as infection with the hepatitis B or C virus, obesity, type II diabetes.
When abstinence is impractical or undesirable, it is possible to counteract some of the harmful effects of alcohol consumption. Scientists have identified several natural agents that counteract alcohol’s adverse effects on the liver.
Once ingested, alcohol must be eliminated by the body. Like other toxins, however, it must be transformed within the body before it can be safely removed. This transformation, or metabolism, of alcohol involves two major steps. First, it is oxidized to an intermediary compound, acetaldehyde, through the action of an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase, or a secondary enzyme, catalase. This initially takes place, to a small extent, in the stomach, and then, to a much greater extent, in the liver. After ethanol (alcohol) is converted to acetaldehyde—a compound even more toxic than alcohol—another enzyme, aldehyde dehydrogenase, converts acetaldehyde to acetate, which is eventually converted to harmless carbon dioxide and water.
Due to the gender-related difference, women are affected more profoundly than men by equivalent doses of alcohol, and are also more susceptible than men to the threat of developing fatty liver, cancer, cirrhosis of the liver and brain damage when they drink.
African-Americans have been dying of liver cirrhosis at a greater rate than whites, of comparable age, for the last 40 years. However, neither men nor women enjoy any relative advantages when it comes to projecting against the toxic effects of the powerful 1-hydroxy-ethyl radical.
Because alcohol has substantial caloric value (7.1 calories per gram), it may displace ordinary nutrients in the diet, including antioxidants such as vitamin C, thereby causing primary malnutrition. Secondary malnutrition can occur later in the course of chronic alcohol use, when food is no longer properly digested and absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract.
Long-term alcohol abuse often leads to a condition known as cirrhosis, which is responsible for the high rate of mortality among heavy drinkers. While liver disease was long thought to be caused by malnutrition, scientists eventually demonstrated that alcohol causes cirrhosis even in the absence of nutritional deficiencies. Liver cirrhosis was the twelfth leading cause of death in the US in 2000.
Chinese studies demonstrated chlorophyllin’s remarkable protective effects against liver cancer. Middle-aged people at high risk of contracting liver cancer served as subjects in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled chemoprevention trial tested whether chlorophyllin could affect levels of the dietary toxin aflatoxin in the subjects’ livers. Nearly 200 adults were randomly assigned to ingest 100 mg of chlorophyllin or a placebo three times daily for four months. Subjects who took chlorophyllin lowered their load of the studied carcinogen by 55%. The investigators estimated that this could help protect these adults from developing cancer for 20 or more years beyond the age when liver cancer commonly occurs, thus extending life significantly in this Chinese population.
Ironically, a constituent of wine may hold one of the keys to protecting the liver against alcohol-induced damage. Found in a variety of foods such as cranberries, peanuts, and grapes, resveratrol is a natural antioxidant. Abundant in red wine, it is believed to play an important role in the purported benefits of moderate wine consumption. This was especially interesting to me, as I observed my father’s gradual use of small amounts of wine in his 60s and 70s, rather than beer or hard liquor.
Barley green extract has also been credited with reducing damage from alcohol’s oxidation to acetaldehyde in the body. Young green barley leaves contain flavonoid antioxidants, including the flavone-C-glycosides saponarin and lutonarin. Studies have shown that barley green extract inhibits the generation of superoxite and hydroxyl radicals in a dose-related manner.
While moderate alcohol consumption—particularly of resveratrol-rich-red wine—may benefit the cardiovascular system, chronic alcohol abuse is anything but healthful. As it turns out, I learned at the early age of 7 years-old that I was allergic to my grandfather’s homemade red wine. It caused profuse sweating, a headache and a beet red flush, in combination with severe joint and muscular pain - for no less than one hour after ingestion. It was a lesson well learned. I could not ingest either wine nor beer (fermentation) for the rest of my life. And so you know the rest of the story. I have never consumed a glass of beer or wine in my 67 years. Ironic and yet true, this son of a coal miner could not fall victim to the disease that plagued his father because mother nature prohibited it - in a most painful way.
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