Heavy Drinking Linked to Increased Risk of Pancreatic Cancer Death

Excessive drinking could lead to a hell of a lot more than time traveling (our phrase for blacking out) and an STD. A new study conducted by the American Cancer Society found that, compared to non-drinkers, individuals who had three or more drinks of liquor a day were at an increased risk of dying from pancreatic cancer, the fourth most common cause of cancer death in the country.

The study's researchers examined data from one million U.S. adults to examine the effects of alcohol consumption on developing pancreatic cancer. Among men only, drinking three drinks per day was linked to pancreatic cancer mortality risk. Among women only, that same risk was only correlated with the consumption of four or more drinks per day.

The study group was also broken down according to smoking habits. Among those who had never smoked, there was a 36 percent higher risk of pancreatic cancer death correlated with drinking three or more drinks of liquor per day when compared to non-drinkers. Among people who had ever smoked before, the risk of death from pancreatic cancer was 16 percent higher (after adjusting for smoking history and other variables).

Researchers found a link between pancreatic cancer mortality and drinking liquor specifically, not other types of alcoholic beverages, like beer or wine.

We don't want our drinking habits to get out of control, of course, but let's just hope the antioxidants in wine counteract whatever beef our pancreases have with liquor...just in case this unemployment trend continues.

Source: JAMA and Archives Journals (2011, March 15). Heavy drinking associated with increased risk of death from pancreatic cancer. ScienceDaily. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110314163433.htm