Can Alcohol Cause Cancer? What You Need to Know
Most of us know about the link between smoking and cancer. But something that is talked about far less is the relationship between alcohol and cancer.
Alcohol is such a normal part of British social life that it can be easy to forget that it carries health risks. A glass of wine with dinner, champagne at a celebration or cocktails with friends can feel completely ordinary.
But can alcohol actually cause cancer?
The answer is yes.
Alcohol is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as a Group 1 carcinogen. This means there is sufficient evidence that it can cause cancer in humans.
This doesn't mean that somebody who drinks alcohol will develop cancer. Cancer is complex and there are many different factors that can influence an individual's risk. However, the evidence shows that drinking alcohol increases the risk of developing certain cancers, and generally the more alcohol someone drinks, the greater that risk becomes.
Which cancers are linked to alcohol?
According to Cancer Research UK, alcohol causes seven different types of cancer:
Breast cancer
Bowel cancer
Liver cancer
Mouth cancer
Oesophageal cancer
Laryngeal cancer
Pharyngeal cancer
Perhaps surprisingly, this includes breast and bowel cancer, two of the most common cancers in the UK.
What about drinking small amounts?
This is where the evidence can be surprising.
The World Health Organization states that there is no established safe level of alcohol consumption when it comes to cancer risk. Even relatively small amounts of alcohol can increase the risk of some alcohol-related cancers.
It's important to put this into perspective. This doesn't mean that having a glass of wine will give you cancer. Risk doesn't work in such a straightforward way. It means that alcohol increases cancer risk at a population level, with the risk generally increasing as the amount consumed increases.
In the UK, the Chief Medical Officers recommend that men and women who drink should not regularly consume more than 14 units of alcohol per week to keep the health risks associated with drinking at a low level.
It is worth noting that this is described as a low-risk guideline, rather than a completely risk-free amount.
How can alcohol cause cancer?
When we drink alcohol, our bodies break down ethanol into a chemical called acetaldehyde.
Acetaldehyde can damage cells and interfere with the body's ability to repair that damage. Alcohol can also affect hormone levels, including oestrogen, which is one of the mechanisms involved in the relationship between alcohol and breast cancer.
Alcohol can also make cells in areas such as the mouth and throat more susceptible to damage from harmful chemicals.
And it isn't simply a question of choosing a different alcoholic drink.
Wine isn't safer because it is wine, and changing from spirits to beer doesn't remove the cancer risk. It is the alcohol itself that is responsible for the increased risk.
Does this mean everyone should stop drinking?
Whether you choose to drink alcohol is a personal decision, and health information shouldn't be used to frighten people.
What matters is having accurate information so that you can make an informed decision about what is right for you.
Reducing the amount of alcohol you drink can reduce your alcohol-related cancer risk. You don't necessarily have to take an all-or-nothing approach for making a change to be worthwhile.
For some people, that might mean drinking less frequently, having more alcohol-free days or changing how much they drink when they go out.
For others, stopping completely can actually feel easier than continually trying to moderate.
Why can changing your relationship with alcohol be difficult?
Our relationship with alcohol isn't necessarily just about enjoying the drink itself.
Over time, alcohol can become associated with particular situations and emotions:
Friday night = wine
Celebration = champagne
Feeling nervous socially = have a drink
Stressful day = pour a glass
Holiday = cocktails
When these experiences are repeated, the associations can become habitual. You may consciously decide that you want to drink less while still finding yourself automatically wanting alcohol when you encounter one of your usual triggers.
For some people, there can also be underlying emotional reasons for drinking.
Alcohol might have become a way of managing stress or anxiety, increasing confidence in social situations, switching off after a difficult day or temporarily escaping uncomfortable emotions.
This can help explain why simply telling yourself “I'm going to drink less” doesn't always create lasting change.
If the underlying triggers and patterns remain the same, you may find yourself repeatedly returning to the same behaviour.
How can hypnotherapy help you change your relationship with alcohol?
This is where hypnotherapy may be helpful.
When I work with somebody who wants to change their relationship with alcohol, the focus isn't simply on telling them not to drink.
Instead, we can explore what alcohol represents for that individual and what may be contributing to the behaviour beneath the surface.
There isn't necessarily one single underlying cause.
For one person, drinking might be strongly associated with relaxation. After years of having a glass of wine whenever they feel stressed, the mind can begin to associate alcohol with switching off.
For somebody else, alcohol may have become connected with confidence. They might feel that they need a drink to relax around other people or feel comfortable in social situations.
For another person, drinking might be connected with difficult emotions or experiences from the past.
Hypnotherapy can provide an opportunity to explore these individual patterns and work on changing the thoughts, emotional responses and learned associations that may be maintaining them.
Depending on the individual, this might involve working with emotional triggers, stress, anxiety, confidence, habitual patterns, limiting beliefs or unresolved experiences from the past.
For example, instead of continually battling the thought “I need a drink to relax,” the work might involve addressing why relaxation has become so strongly associated with alcohol in the first place and developing a different response.
The aim isn't simply to depend upon willpower.
It is to understand why the desire to drink is there and what continues to reinforce it, before working towards healthier ways of responding to those triggers.
For some people, changing those underlying associations can help alcohol begin to feel less important or less appealing than it once did.
You don't have to have an alcohol problem to make a change
I think this distinction is particularly important.
You don't need to identify as an alcoholic or have an alcohol dependence before questioning your relationship with alcohol.
There is a huge space between having no concerns whatsoever about drinking and experiencing alcohol dependence.
Perhaps you simply feel that you're drinking more than you would like.
Maybe you're noticing the effect alcohol has on your sleep, mood, weight, motivation or general wellbeing.
Or perhaps you've started wondering why you automatically reach for a drink when you're stressed, celebrating, socialising or trying to relax.
You don't need to give yourself a label before deciding that you'd like something to change.
Sometimes a useful question is simply:
Is alcohol still adding more to my life than it's taking away?
If you're beginning to question your relationship with alcohol, hypnotherapy may provide an opportunity to explore the habits, emotions and associations surrounding your drinking and work towards changing them.
A note about alcohol dependence
If you drink heavily, experience withdrawal symptoms or believe you may be physically dependent on alcohol, you should seek appropriate medical advice before reducing or stopping drinking.
Suddenly stopping alcohol when physically dependent can be dangerous. Hypnotherapy should not be used as a substitute for appropriate medical assessment or treatment in these circumstances.
Stephanie Newton
Advanced Clinical Hypnotherapist
Diamond Wellbeing
Sources
Cancer Research UK – How does alcohol cause cancer?
