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Daily beer and spirits drinking increases cancer risk sevenfold |
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Written by Mike Cohen
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Monday, 10 August 2009 |
People who drink beer and spirits every day face a much higher chance
of developing cancer – and the risk could be seven times greater for
some cancers.
People who drink beer or spirits moderately – which is less than every day – or who drink only wine, do not run the same risks.
Researchers
say they were shocked by the findings, which show a direct link between
heavy drinking and an increased risk for esophageal, stomach, colon,
liver, pancreatic, lung and prostate cancers. The greatest risk was
for esophageal cancer, with a sevenfold increase, but heavy drinkers
also face an 80 per cent increased risk for colon cancer, and 50 per
cent for lung cancer.
The researchers, from the University of Montreal, used data originally collected in the 1980s for a cancer study in the city.
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