Perils of addictions

A recent study by University College London has presented the results of its findings on the impact of smoking on life expectancy in rather dramatic terms.

- BHARAT DOGRA

This study, published in the Journal of Addiction, has stated that smoking a single cigarette can reduce 20 minutes from a person's life. Smoking a packet of 20 cigarettes can take away about 7 hours from the life of a person.

This has come on top of US government warnings about alcohol's links to cancer. Latest information on health risks of alcohol released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tells us that while about 20,000 adult persons die from alcohol-related cancers in a year in the USA, as many as 25 times this number, or 522,000 (367,000 for women and 155,000 for men) to be precise, alcohol-associated cancers occurred in the USA in 2021. It is this larger number that is more relevant, and scary, in countries with lesser levels of health care access and early detection.

The latest official information from the USA also establishes that at least seven cancers (and perhaps ten) are linked to alcohol. These seven cancers are - mouth, throat (pharynx), voice box (larynx), esophagus, colon and rectum, liver and breast (in women). In addition, three other cancers have also been linked to alcohol by several studies, including pancreatic, stomach and prostate. Among men, the highest number of alcohol-related cancers are colorectal cancers while among women these are breast cancers.

Further, this latest information tells us that all drinks that contain alcohol, including red and white wine, beer and liquor, increase the risk of cancer.