Congratulations to our Kara Wiseman, PhD, for helping to spur Surgeon General Vivek Murthy to highlight the link between alcohol consumption and cancer.
Dr. Murthy has issued an advisory noting that drinking alcohol can increase your chances of developing at least seven different types of cancer, including mouth, esophagus, breast (in women), liver, larynx and colon/rectal. The advisory included several recommendations to increase public awareness, including adding warning labels to alcohol bottles.
The advisory cited a paper from Professor Wiseman and colleagues that found less than half of U.S. adults seeing a care provider had discussed the cancer risks that come from drinking alcohol.
Professor Wiseman was responsible for some of the first research examining public awareness of the increased cancer risk that comes with drinking. A 2019 study found that only 38% of Americans knew about the link, while a subsequent study, published in 2022, found that two-thirds of adults supported adding warning labels to alcohol.