Frequency of drinking alcohol, not the amount consumed raises cancer risk in digestive system

A joint research team from Seoul National University Hospital and Samsung Medical Center discovered that the frequency of alcohol consumption statistically relates to the risk of cancer in the digestive system, rather than the amount.

The team concluded that drinking a small amount of alcohol every day raises cancer risk in the digestive system by 39 percent.

The study was conducted on 11 million people over 40 years of age, and without any diagnosed case of cancer during their national health examination conducted between 2009 and 2011.

Changes in health were observed until 2017.

The subjects were divided into groups based on the weekly level of alcohol consumption: non-alcohol consumers, mild alcohol consumers who consume up to 104 grams, intermediate alcohol consumers who take 105 to 209 grams, and excessive alcohol consumers who drink over 210 grams.

Excessive alcohol consumers drink more than three bottles of soju every week.

Medical authorities recommend that alcohol drinking should not exceed 210 grams per week.

The research team found that the level of cancer risk in the digestive system rises with higher consumption of alcohol from 1 for non-alcohol consumers to 1.28 for excessive alcohol consumers.

Drinking every day raises the risk to 1.39.

It was also revealed that those who drink five to seven shots of alcohol in a single round were 1.15 times more likely to suffer than nondrinkers.