Melbourne: In a shocking new revelation, a new report from the cancer council has warned that any amount of alcohol could give you cancer, regardless of your drinking levels.
According to the Cancer Council, alcoholic drinks and ethanol are carcinogenic to humans and there`s no evidence there`s a safe consumption threshold to avoid cancer, reports news.com.au.
There`s convincing evidence that alcohol is a cause of cancer of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, oesophagus, bowel (in men) and breast (in women), the council said in a position statement.
It`s bad news for those justifying the occasional drink as a preventer of coronary heart disease.
"The previously reported role of alcohol in reducing heart disease risk in light-to- moderate drinkers appears to have been overestimated," the council said.
Drinking alcohol might have played a dominant role in defining Australian culture for more than 200 years, the council said.
"It is also an important cause of illness, injury and death, whether resulting from short-term episodes of intoxication or from long-term, chronic use," it says.
The only way to reduce the risk of cancer is to limit your drinks or avoid alcohol altogether.
The report has been published in the Medical Journal of Australia.
ANI