(by Nicola Simonetti) “Alcohol is a hedonic substance, but - the prof. Carmelina Loguercio and prof. Domenico Alvaro, full professors of gastroenterology from the universities of Naples and La Sapienza of Rome respectively - it, in creating pleasure, can induce addiction and certainly cause damage to various organs and systems. For young people, alcohol represents an even greater risk as young people metabolize it poorly, often abuse it without even realizing it, get used to a lifelong approach to alcoholic beverages, use it to 'get high' without spending much and without having relations with illegality. Often, unaware, they drive vehicles and die (or make people die) ”.
Several articles denounce an alcohol-cancer relationship in the titles, but then, in the texts, it is noted that "the strong association is, even at low doses of alcohol, only for breast cancer after menopause, prostate cancer (on which however it affects the presence of insulin resistance) and perhaps of melanoma (on which the exposure to sun rays weighs as a confounding factor). Even a protective effect of alcohol on bladder, renal, ovarian and lymphoma is documented ”.
The American Institute for Cancer Research, in 2018 after a careful review of the literature, invites you to keep in mind the alcohol content of a drink (unit of measurement for alcohol consumption) which changes depending on the country. For example, in Great Britain, wine is served in a glass of 250 ml against the 125 ml generally considered in Italy.
The 'confounders', ie the intrinsic (metabolic, hormonal, genetic, etc.) or extrinsic (other voluptuous habits, diet, environmental and occupational exposures, place of residence, etc.) that can certainly influence the onset must also be evaluated. of cancer.
The authors conclude: "close association between alcohol and cancer-breast cancer in the pre-menopausal period and, squamous carcinoma of the esophagus (no relation to adeno-carcinoma). For liver, colon and stomach we should exceed the 30-45 grams of alcohol / day (referring not to the "glass" but to how much alcohol is present in the drink, ie to its alcohol content) to have a significant association, and to the pancreas, there is no conclusive data. Finally a work of March 2019 (Int J Cancer 2019), in which smoking, alcohol, body mass index, diet, physical activity, prolonged fasting were evaluated as risk factors for cancer environmental infections and pollutions, shows that around 35 per cent of new adult cancer cases are linked to the association of multiple factors, including particularly reduced physical activity and smoking ”.
“What we want to underline - says Alvaro, president of the Italian Gastroenterology Society - is the role of scientific societies in the interpretation and dissemination of scientific news regarding human health”.
The Sige and the other scientific societies must all fight together against the incorrect use of alcohol, and there are categories in which the no is absolute (below the legal age, at the guide, on the jobs, if they are taken on drugs, in pregnancy, etc.). However we cannot, in the light of scientific data, state that a glass of wine or a can of beer in our daily diet, makes any kind of cancer come ”.
The citizen must be informed correctly, remembering, among other things, that every prohibition inevitably leads to transgression ”.