Smoking and Alcohol as Cancer Triggers

Smoking

According to the ACS: ‘Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the US. Each year, smoking results in an estimated 443 000 premature deaths, of which about 49 400 are in nonsmokers as a result of exposure to second-hand smoke.’20 There can be little doubt that smoking is bad for you, yet still people smoke. Kicking the habit could not only save your life, but the lives of those who are forced to breathe in your smoke.

Mat explains that smoking is harmful and results in diseases like cancer because it increases oxidative stress in the body, which in turn increases the number of free radicals. A free radical is a molecule with an unpaired electron. Highly reactive radicals can start a damaging chain reaction in the body, like a row of falling dominos, by stealing electrons from just about anything, including important cellular components like DNA. When electrons are stolen from DNA, the DNA becomes damaged and needs to be repaired. ‘It is not that if your DNA is damaged you are going to get cancer, not at all. What normally happens is that your DNA will be repaired or the cell with DNA damage will be destroyed, but sometimes the restorative capacity of the body is overwhelmed or changes in cellular function go unnoticed by the immune system. If your immune system doesn’t have all of the antioxidants it needs and all of the vitamins and minerals it needs to function properly, it will be unable to protect the body from internal and external threats,’ explains Mat.

By consistently exposing the body to toxins like those in cigarette smoke, free radicals will continue to cause damage, putting the body under constant stress as it tries to repair the damage and rendering it incapable of healing or protecting itself.

According to the ACS, the majority of smokers become addicted to tobacco at a young age, as research shows that adolescents are more susceptible to nicotine addiction: ‘While there are different trajectories to smoking uptake from adolescence to adulthood, there is evidence that most smokers who become regular and heavy smokers start before 18 years of ages.

In addition, because the likelihood of developing smoking-related cancers such as lung cancer increases with the duration of smoking, those who start at younger ages and continue to smoke are at higher risk for tobacco-related illness and death.’

The ACS has found that tobacco use increases the risk of cancers of the lung, mouth, nasal cavities, larynx, pharynx, oesophagus, stomach, colorectum, liver, pancreas, kidney, bladder, uterus, cervix, breast and ovary, as well as myeloid leukaemia.

Alcohol

Having a glass of wine at dinner or a beer at a braai is an enjoyable pastime for many South Africans. Many of us could not imagine life without a cold one after work. While enjoying a drink every now and then is okay, it is recommended that men should only consume two units of alcohol per occasion and women only one – and for good reason.

Alcohol raises the risk for cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, oesophagus, liver and breast, and probably the colon and rectum as well.

According to Boome, people who drink alcohol should limit their intake to no more than two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women.

One drink is defined as 355 ml of beer, 150 ml of wine or 44 ml of eightyproof distilled spirits. Regular intake of even a few drinks per week is linked to a higher risk of breast cancer in women, especially in women who do not get enough folate. Women at high risk of breast cancer may want to consider not drinking any alcohol. Furthermore, the combination of alcohol and tobacco increases the risk for some cancers far more than the effect of either drinking or smoking alone.

‘Alcohol represents a net drain on your body’s vitamin and mineral resources,’ says Mat. ‘For women, the recommended upper limit is less than men because we tend to weigh less, have less muscle mass and are unable to process alcohol as effectively as men can.’

Ethanol, the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, is classified by the International Agency for Cancer Research as a human carcinogen. So while there are recommendations for safe alcohol consumption, there is actually no such thing as a ‘safe limit’. According to the WCRF and the AICR: ‘The evidence that alcoholic drinks are a cause of cancers of the mouth, pharynx and larynx, oesophagus, colorectum (men) and breast is convincing. They are probably a cause of liver cancer, and of colorectal cancer in women. It is unlikely that alcoholic drinks have a substantial adverse effect on the risk of kidney cancer.’

PLWC suggests cancer patients avoid or at least limit alcohol, especially those having head and neck radiation and/or chemotherapy that will put them at risk for mouth and throat sensitivity. Basing its recommendations on research conducted by the ACS, it states: ‘While there is substantial evidence that alcohol may increase the risk of developing several cancers, there is less evidence related to alcohol and survival from cancer. If alcohol is consumed, cancer survivors should be encouraged to limit its use to no more than one to two drinks per day.’

Besides its effect on health, alcohol also influences mood and lowers inhibitions. And because it is addictive, dependency on alcohol can seriously affect people’s personal and professional lives.