Why is alcohol a carcinogen? From these two points of analysis, let's take a look!
The famous medical journal "The Lancet. Oncology" released a research survey in 2020, which is a survey report on the burden of cancer in various countries around the world. The research shows that there are about 72 new cancer types in the world in 2020, Among them , pancreatic cancer, liver cancer, digestive tract cancer and other malignant tumors are all related to alcohol consumption . Nearly 810,000 people have cancer, and the factors behind it are alcohol abuse!
In fact, as early as the end of the last century, the World Health Organization has published a list of carcinogens. Researchers have divided carcinogens into different levels. One type of carcinogen refers to substances that have been clearly carcinogenic to the human body. In a class of carcinogens, the presence of alcohol can be seen, that is to say, alcohol is indeed carcinogenic to the human body.
Globally, nearly 5.5% of cancer occurrences and 5.8% of cancer deaths are caused by alcohol. This means that, on average, one out of every 18 cancer patients drinks alcohol. So the question is, obviously after drinking it will make people feel relaxed, why does it become a carcinogen?
1. Direct damage
When alcohol enters the body, it first comes into contact with the mucous membranes of the digestive tract. However, the mucosa of the digestive tract itself is actually very fragile. The higher the concentration of liquor, the more it will directly penetrate the protective layer of the mucosa, causing corrosion to the mucosa, leading to the emergence of chronic digestive diseases, such as peptic ulcers, chronic inflammation, intestinal Epithelial metaplasia , etc.;
Next, alcohol travels through the bloodstream, where it enters the liver and begins to metabolize. A survey of relevant data shows that 95% of alcohol in the human body is actually broken down in the liver.
In the process , both alcohol and metabolites will cause direct toxic damage to liver cells . At the same time, alcohol will also inhibit other biotransformation functions of the liver, which in turn leads to the onset of alcoholic liver diseases, such as fatty liver, hepatitis, and cirrhosis .
Relevant research surveys have shown that the occurrence of cancer is affected by a combination of factors, including chronic diseases. Because the emergence of chronic diseases, will reduce the patient's immune function, and cause repeated damage to tissue cells. The more a cell divides and repairs, the more likely it is that DNA will mutate, which in turn increases the possibility of cancer.
2. Toxic damage
In fact, alcohol itself is not a carcinogen, because ethanol only causes direct damage and does not cause genetic mutations. The real danger is the " acetaldehyde" produced during metabolism in the liver . After ethanol enters the liver, it is converted into acetaldehyde by alcohol dehydrogenase , and then acetaldehyde dehydrogenase metabolizes it into acetic acid .
Ethanol and acetic acid are relatively safe, but acetaldehyde is completely different. It can directly bind to DNA and induce gene mutation in cells, and acetaldehyde can directly damage the DNA structure of cells and even cause serious chromosomal rearrangements;
What is even more frightening is that most Chinese people have defects in the acetaldehyde dehydrogenase gene, which means that ethanol can be metabolized into acetaldehyde, but acetaldehyde cannot be metabolized smoothly .
For example, people who blush easily after drinking are actually due to the lack of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase secretion in the body. In this case, acetaldehyde acts on the cells for a long time and naturally increases the possibility of canceration.
All in all, alcohol is a class of carcinogens, but it is not absolutely carcinogenic. Because cancer development is quite complex, age, genetics, physical fitness and immunity are all involved, so not everyone will develop cancer after drinking alcohol.
But it cannot be denied that as long as you are exposed to alcohol in large quantities for a long time, there is a possibility of cancer. Therefore, it is necessary to quit drinking and get rid of alcohol control as soon as possible.