UB researchers contribute to National Academies report on alcohol and health effects – UBNow: News and views for UB faculty and staff

UB researchers were part of a committee that wrote a report outlining the link between low-to-moderate alcohol consumption and health effects. report The paper was published last month by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, weeks before U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy's announcement. new recommendations About the direct link between alcohol consumption and increased cancer risk.

The Surgeon General's recommendations call for health warning labels on alcoholic beverages to be updated to include greater cancer risks.

In addition to the link between moderate alcohol consumption (defined as two drinks a day for men and one drink for women) and certain types of cancer, the National Academies report found that in addition to the relationship between moderate alcohol consumption (defined as two drinks a day for men and one drink for women), other Associations with seven health effects were also investigated. , all-cause mortality and neurocognitive health.

Joe L. Freudenheim, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, State University of New York, serves on the 15-member Committee on the Review of Evidence on Alcohol and Health, which responds to government requests. A report was prepared accordingly. meeting.

This report will help inform the next edition of the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which was last updated in 2020. The next update to the guidelines, which will be revised every five years, is expected to be published in the coming months.

A review of alcohol consumption and cancer, Freudenheim's area of ​​expertise, is a large part of the National Academies' latest report.

“It has long been known in the research community that alcohol causes seven different types of cancer, and there is a wealth of information about the effects of alcohol on breast cancer,” Freudenheim says. She says past research has found a linear association between alcohol consumption and breast cancer, meaning that drinking a small amount leads to a small increase in risk, while drinking a large amount leads to a small increase in risk. This means that there is a proportionally greater increase in the risk of breast cancer. .

“However, although the link between alcohol and cancer has been long established, it is poorly recognized among the general public,” Freudenheim added. “That's starting to change. People are becoming more aware of the health effects of alcohol. Understanding the role of alcohol in cancer is important.”

There is growing concern around the world about the health effects of alcohol. In June, the World Health Organization issued a statement saying that “no alcohol consumption is risk-free.” While the WHO provided something close to a comprehensive statement, Freudenheim said: Canadian guidance on alcohol and health This is more useful in that it outlines a range of risks associated with alcohol use and categorizes those risks by the amount of alcohol consumed per week.

“Canadian guidelines say there is no risk-free amount, but there are consequences when you drink alcohol,” Freudenheim says. “Some things we do every day, like driving, come with risks. The question with alcohol consumption is: what level of risk are we willing to accept, and how do we deal with it?”

Freudenheim is also a co-author of a paper published last month in the journal breast cancer research This study examined the effects of abstinence and continued drinking on breast cancer risk, depending on hormone receptor status (estrogen receptor positive (ER+) vs. estrogen receptor negative (ER-)).

There are several different subtypes of breast cancer, Freudenheim explains, and there is evidence that the causes of these subtypes are different. “We know that alcohol is generally more associated with ER-positive breast cancer than ER-negative breast cancer,” she says.

This study suggests that, compared with continued drinking, abstinence is associated with a reduced risk of ER+ breast cancer, but not ER- breast cancer. One of the strengths of the researchers' meta-analysis was that the breast cancer risk estimates for abstinence were compared with the breast cancer risk estimates for continued drinking rather than abstinence.

“The higher risk of smoking cessation compared with abstinence may be due to long-term effects related to previous alcohol consumption,” the researchers said.

In 2023, Freudenheim will New England Medical Journal In it, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) published a summary review of alcohol reduction or cessation and cancer risks.

Professor Freudenheim will be joining 15 scientists from eight countries who will review published research and assess the strength of epidemiological evidence regarding the potential for reducing or stopping alcohol use to reduce alcohol-related cancer risks. He was part of a working group consisting of

“We found that for some types of cancer, there hasn't been enough research done. However, for oral cancer and esophageal cancer, reducing or quitting drinking can reduce your risk. There is strong research that shows that,” Freudenheim says.