Excessive use of alcohol causes cancer

Sat. February 6, 2010
EXCESSIVE alcohol use has been identified as being responsible for various cancers, including oral, pharynx, larynx, oesophagus, liver, colorectal and breast.
As the country joined the rest of the world to commemorate World Cancer Day which fell yesterday, the Ghana Health Service (GHS), advised Ghanaians to limit alcohol intake to reduce the risk of developing any of those cancers.
The advice was contained in a statement released by the GHS in Accra as part of the World Cancer Day event. The theme for the day was, “Cancer can be prevented too” and it focused on simple measures to prevent the disease, such as no tobacco use, a healthy diet and regular exercise, limited alcohol use and protection against cancer-causing infections.
A statement signed by the National Cancer Control Focal Person at the Disease Control and Prevention Department of the GHS, Dr Kofi Mensah Nyarko, said the major cancers in Ghana were breast, cervical, prostate, liver, stomach, blood cancers and childhood cancers.
It pointed out that an increasing number of young people were now developing cancers.
Cancer is the abnormal growth of cells in any part of the body. It mostly leads to death if not seen early and treated. Some of the early warning signs, according to the statement, were lumps and swellings, ulcers that failed to heal, abnormal bleeding, persistent indigestion and chronic hoarseness of voice.
It indicated that each year more than 12 million people received a cancer diagnosis and 7.6 million died of the disease,
noting that figures from the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated that world-wide 84 million people would die of cancer between 2005 and 2015 without intervention.
Cancer, according to the world body, constituted about 12 per cent of all deaths world-wide and in developing countries it was among the three leading causes of death in adults.
The statement said for many, being told they had cancer created immediate fear from sudden death, adding that there were many myths and misconceptions about cancers which sometimes caused late reporting and prevented the use of health care services, including early treatment.
“The good news is that approximately 40 per cent of cancers are potentially preventable. Another 30 per cent of patients will have complete recovery if the cancer is detected early by various simple screening methods or tests. There is also hope for patients who are diagnosed late, as there are various types of treatment, such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy, surgery, hormonal therapy or a combination of these,” it pointed out.
It went further to state that appropriate therapy and an efficient communication campaign could result in a significant decrease in the morbidity and prevalence of bilharzia and thus reduce the burden of bladder cancer.
This year's campaign, according to the GHS, was aimed at raising awareness of the fact that the risk of developing cancer could potentially be reduced by 40 per cent through simple lifestyle changes and other control measures, such as vaccination, regular physical activity, eating healthily, limiting alcohol consumption and avoiding tobacco.