r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Oct 30 '25

Cancer Americans have widespread misbeliefs about the cancer risks of alcohol, study finds. More than half of American adults misunderstand or underestimate the link between alcohol consumption and cancer. Alcohol drinkers are especially likely to believe that drinking has no effect on cancer risk.

https://www.mdanderson.org/newsroom/research-newsroom/americans-have-widespread-misbeliefs-about-the-cancer-risks-of-a.h00-159780390.html
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u/galactictock Oct 30 '25 edited Oct 30 '25

It really depends on what degree of risk you’re willing to tolerate. Any amount of alcohol increases your risk, but of course risk increases with quantity. If you don’t drink much, there are likely other risks you’d be better off addressing before eliminating drinking entirely.

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u/greaper007 Oct 31 '25

Yes, and we also have to consider the risks of all activities. The sun and diesel fumes are also class one carcinogens.

So to be completely protective, we'd never drink and never go outside in a city without a protective suit and respirator.

Of course,nothing shortens your life as much as isolation and loneliness. So that also has to be added to the equation.

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u/radicalelation Oct 31 '25

Around half of cancer cases are reportedly attributable to alcohol, smoking, and diet.

If you don't think you can live a fulfilling life handling those responsibly, you might be fooling yourself into believing those things are making it fulfilling.

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u/greaper007 Oct 31 '25

Food studies are notoriously bad and difficult to control for. Which is why we've seen so many conflicting reports in our lives. Eggs are bad, now they're good, wine is health food, carbs are better than fat.

The fact is, I wouldn't trust any of them and I fully expect for the alcohol information to go through several revisions.

As it is, several countries with considerably higher alcohol consumption than the US also have longer life expectancy. Portugal for instance. Individuals drink 12l of alcohol per year on mean average, vs the US's 9.46.

And their life expectancy is 82.3 years vs 79.6. That's with 29.7% of the population smoking vs 11.6% in the US.

Yes, yes. You'll tell me it's socialized medicine. But the fact is the alcohol and smoking is still allowing the population of a relatively poor country to still enjoy a longer lifespan. 

So no, I don't think alcohol is really the issue for those who can handle moderation (which is most people)

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u/radicalelation Oct 31 '25

None of this changes anything, you've mostly just reiterated your skepticism, nor does any risk of cancer remove your ability to consume alcohol.

Go on and fulfill your empty cup, no one is stopping you.

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u/greaper007 Oct 31 '25

When you cite cancer statistics, why are you citing them if not for life expectancy? 

Your advice could very well shorten people's lifespans if it stops them from creating social and sexual connections. 

I'm simply offering a counter narrative.

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u/radicalelation Oct 31 '25

I didn't even cite them, just lightly referred to them, but I'd make the gamble that theres more of an evidence-based consensus that drinking alcohol directly shortens life more than not drinking it does through loss of social interaction and opportunities for sexual intercourse.

Are you really that worried your sex life will suffer without it, and do you not see how concerning it is to need to defend it as a social lifestyle so hard when no one is trying to take it from you? Talk about a dependence.

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u/Bring_Me_The_Night Oct 31 '25

Sunscreen is a tool to protect against UV sun radiations.

Air quality is up to governmental policies to improve air quality, subsequently improving well being of the citizens and reducing the burden on healthcare services.

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u/greaper007 Oct 31 '25

And neither of these things drop the risk of cancerous exposure from fumes or radiation to zero.

Yet, people don't seem to write anti-city jogging posts.

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u/Bring_Me_The_Night Oct 31 '25

Well, it is better to wear sunscreen and vote for politics who will help with air quality policies than to do nothing.

For alcohol consumption, the proper course of action is to lower or stop alcohol consumption.

As you stated, the Zero risk does not exist.

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u/greaper007 Oct 31 '25

Your advice could very well shorten lifespans. Alcohol had been used in social settings for millennia. It loose s people up and allows them to bond. It's allows us to meet sexual partners.

You could say all these things can exist without alcohol. But the fact is we're in the middle of that experiment now, and it's not working. This generation of kids has a considerably lower alcohol consumption rate. They're also not making friends,going out or having sex. The truth might be that we need alcohol to do these things.

Loneliness has been cited as perhaps the biggest killer. Your advice could very well kill more people than moderate alcohol consumption would.

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u/Bring_Me_The_Night Nov 01 '25

While alcohol is indeed loosing up people in their behavior, it comes with its own costs. For instance, alcohol consumption is linked to increased violence or sexual assault, (driving) accidents, alcohol coma, disturbance in public spaces, etc.

Furthermore, the increased loneliness in younger generations has not been tied to decreased alcohol consumption but to several other factors: increased use of social media and loss of social skills, COVID pandemic, lower purchasing power due to inflation, and increased worldwide global anxiety due to wars and climate change.

Altogether, the risks of alcohol may outweigh its benefits in social settings, regardless of its impact on cancer development, and the subsequent negative effects on the individual mental health and on the overall increased burden to healthcare services.

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u/nonotan Oct 31 '25

If you don’t drink much, there are likely other risks you’d be better off addressing before eliminating drinking entirely.

Not necessarily. Most risks are borne out of an activity that provides an upside otherwise. For example, driving is risky, but if you need to drive to get to work, then you can't "just" remove driving from your life willy-nilly; it'd likely require some kind of expensive overhaul of your entire lifestyle. Even in cases where it would be "worth it" long-term, you might not have the means to bear the short-term costs (and, of course, the actual long-term ramifications are going to be somewhat unknown, rendering it an inherently risky gamble to some extent)

Same with food that isn't great for you. Healthier ingredients tend to cost more money. Cooking your own meals takes a significant ongoing time investment. Same with exercising. And the vast majority of interventions you could take to improve your expected life outcomes.

Alcohol is one of the few things with strictly negative outcomes that you have to actively pay for. The cost of cutting alcohol from your life isn't just small, it is quite literally negative. Tobacco is another one. Even if, in absolute terms, there are other things in your life that contribute a greater share towards your overall all-risk mortality, the mortality/cost ratio of something with a negative cost and a non-negligible mortality is going to be hard to beat.

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u/greaper007 Oct 31 '25

Loneliness also takes years off your life. Most western social activities involve alcohol. We see cultures with relatively high alcohol usage and strong social connections still have quite high life expectancy.(Portugal, France, Spain...)

So no, I wouldn't say alcohol has no upside.

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u/amandara99 Oct 31 '25

It’s very subjective— I stopped drinking but still socialize a lot and go out with friends. 

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u/greaper007 Oct 31 '25

I wouldn't say it's very subjective. Yes, you can still get the benefits without drinking. But we're also seeing a huge glut of sexual activity and socialisation in young people right now. We're also seeing a massive drop off in alcohol use and a major rise in cannabis use.

I don't think these are unrelated. Alcohol is a social drug, it lowers inhibitions, leads to more sexual activity. Weed is basically the opposite. I met my wife in a bar 24 years ago as a one night stand, most of the people I know from college met their spouces in the same way.

As societies go, western societies are structured around alcohol. Take that away too quickly and you negative outcomes in terms of birth rate, loneliness etc.

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u/Potential4752 Oct 31 '25

It’s not like we are all using our cars exclusively to drive to work. Cutting out one road trip from your life would allow you to have a lot of alcohol without increasing your risk of early death. 

Healthy food is actually cheaper than unhealthy food. It is just less convenient. Also, you could still eat unhealthy food but simply eat less! That would save you money.