Alcohol abuse in teens increases long-term cancer risk

Alcohol abuse in early adulthood increases the long-term risk of developing cancer, according to a new study out of Australia. The results show that the effects of the substance on the body are more permanent than previously thought.

While experts already knew that drinking alcohol was harmful to health, no one was sure how permanent the risks were. It was then that Harindra Jayasekara, a professor at the University of Melbourne in Australia, decided to analyze the issue.

He and his research group obtained public health data from 22,000 women and 15,000 men collected between 1990 and 1994. In the study, drinking was defined as more than 6 drinks per day.

Different behaviors towards alcohol

Respondents are grouped by types of behavior: abstainers, ascending, descending or regular (light or moderate) consumers.

Among the declining are men who reduce their alcohol intake between the ages of 20-39 (early) and heavy users up to age 70 (late).

Despite the difference, both had a high lifetime risk of developing colorectal cancer. This situation reveals that even if consumption is reduced or stopped, the damage to health is permanent.

Jayasekara told Medscape Medical News that people don’t expect alcohol abuse in early adulthood to affect the appearance of tumors years later, but the study raises this new warning.

The results also showed that women were three times as likely to be teether. Despite this, both sexes showed the same tendency to increase their lifetime alcohol intake – 7% of respondents overall were increasing consumers.

ARTICLE International Journal of Cancer: doi.org/10.1002/ijc.33973