SIDNER: “All right, the U.S. surgeon general is sounding the alarm about the Link between alcohol and increased cancer risk. In a new advisory, he‘s linking alcohol consumption to seven types of cancer and is calling for warning labels on alcoholic beverages, just like the ones you see on cigarettes. CNN‘s Meg Tirrell is joining us now with the details. This is quite something. I‘m very curious to hear what these links are.”
TIRRELL: “Yeah, Sara, I mean, this is the direction that the scientific research has been headed for some time. We’ve increasingly been hearing that no amount of alcohol is really recommended for your health, and that really goes against the suggestions we‘ve been hearing since the 90s that maybe alcohol, at least in moderation, maybe red wine, maybe it‘s good for you. Increasingly, that’s been going in the opposite direction. So, today, the U.S. surgeon general is issuing this advisory, noting that alcohol is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, after tobacco and obesity, and notes that even though this scientific research has been emerging, a majority of Americans actually don‘t realize that risk between alcohol and cancer. In their release, they‘re noting that alcohol consumption increases the risk of at least seven different types of cancer. And as part of this advisory, the surgeon general is also calling for an update to the health warning labels on alcoholic beverages to include this Link to cancer. He notes that there are 100,000 cases and 20,000 deaths associated with cancer that are linked to alcohol in the United States every year, and so those seven different types of cancer that have the Link to alcohol consumption are breast cancer, colorectal cancer, esophagus cancer, liver, mouth, throat and voice box cancer. He notes that more than 16% of breast cancer cases are attributable to alcohol consumption, Sarah. So this is something that‘s trying to raise awareness to make sure that folks know about this Link, where the scientific evidence has been going for some time.”
SIDNER: “Yeah, it was the one that my doctor said that I could not have after being diagnosed with cancer, was alcohol was the one thing.”