World Cancer Report states that no amount of alcohol is safe when it comes to cancer
We all know that drinking and driving is a dangerous business. In fact, each day roughly 30 Americans are killed in auto accidents caused by or involving a drunk driver. However, because the law permits individuals to drive as long as their blood alcohol is less than 0.08, many people do not take driving “buzzed” seriously.
The truth is that having any amount of alcohol in your system can dull reflexes and potentially contribute to an accident. Plus, as a new report has shown, drinking even moderate amounts of alcohol increases the risk of developing certain forms of cancer. This should be a compelling reason not to drink at all—much less drink and drive.
2014 World Cancer Report Declares No Amount of Alcohol is Safe
Alcohol was officially declared a carcinogen by the World Health Organization’s cancer research arm in 1988. At that time, it was known that alcohol caused esophageal cancer, but links to other types of cancers were not explored in depth for many years. According to Jürgen Rehm, a contributor to the World Cancer Report, in the past 10 to 15 years researchers have also linked alcohol consumption to cancers of the breast, mouth, larynx, liver, esophagus, and colon-rectum. A dose-response relationship exists where the more alcohol is consumed, the greater the risk of cancer.
Most recently, an analysis of data from 222 past studies found that even light or moderate drinking can cause cancer. The analysis found that light drinking was associated with risk for oropharyngeal cancer, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and female breast cancer, but not with cancers of the colon-rectum, liver, or larynx.
Doctors’ Recommendations
The doctors who contributed to the World Cancer Report made several recommendations for reducing the personal and public costs of alcohol consumption. For example, they believe that placing warning labels on alcohol advertising the cancer risk could help reduce alcohol-related cancers, much as has happened for tobacco. They also recommend encouraging individuals to monitor their alcohol intake more closely and limit it to 20 or 15 grams per day (1.5 or 1 drink) for men and women respectively.
Auto Accident Attorney’s Recommendations
To these recommendations an auto accident injury attorney would have to add, do not drive if you feel at all impaired by alcohol!
If you have been injured in an auto accident that was not entirely your fault, you may be entitled to compensation. This is especially true if the other party was driving recklessly or negligently due to the influence of alcohol. Contact an auto attorney as soon as it is safe to do so for the best chance of securing compensation for your injuries and losses.
