���Ĵ�ý

Dr. Robert A. Roth, UNC Chapel Hill, will present this seminar. Consumption of alcoholic beverages is common around the world, and its risks and benefits continue to be debated. Drinking alcoholic beverages has been associated with numerous adverse health consequences, among which is cancer. In the last several years, meta-analyses of human epidemiological data have provided strong evidence of alcohol-associated cancers. In publications of epidemiological studies, statements like “…the safest level of drinking is none” (Lancet 2018; 392: 1015-35) have been interpreted to mean that any level of alcoholic beverage consumption is harmful. An official of the World Health Organization-Europe declared that “It doesn’t matter how much you drink – the risk to the drinker’s health starts from the first drop of any alcoholic beverage.” Such statements have since been echoed by news outlets and in social media posts. The seminar will address the likelihood that “one drop” of alcohol increases cancer risk, with examples of dose-response results from epidemiological and experimental studies. In addition, it will explore alcohol exposure from foods that we eat and how such exposure compares to “one drop” of an alcoholic beverage. In sum, the results to be presented raise questions about how cancer risk from alcohol consumption should be communicated to the public and the potential consequences of the messaging.