Balance voices support for people to cut down on alcohol
A breast cancer nurse and breast cancer patient are joining Balance in encouraging people to cut down on alcohol this February as a way to reduce cancer risk.
Research from Balance has shown that just one in three people in the North East know that alcohol causes cancer, despite it causing seven types of the disease including breast, bowel mouth and throat cancer (1).
The UK Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines advise that any level of regular drinking raises cancer risk, and rises with the amount being drunk. Balance’s ‘Alcohol is Toxic’ campaign is currently running across regional TV and radio encouraging people to cut down to reduce their risk.
Up to 1,640 men and 1580 women are diagnosed every two years in the North East with a cancer potentially related with alcohol, with the two most common being bowel and breast cancers (2).
Mum Sheridan Dixon, 62, from Jarrow, is adding her support after being diagnosed with breast cancer last August. She had surgery in September at the QE Hospital in Gateshead and finished further radiotherapy treatment in January this year.
She said: “After my diagnosis, I started reading about the connections between alcohol and breast cancer, which made me realise I needed to do everything possible including cutting down on alcohol to stay fit and healthy to prevent the cancer from coming back. I already knew having a good diet and maintaining a healthy weight were important as well.
“I was shocked when I realised that any doctor would have considered me to have been a binge drinker. I could easily go without alcohol during the week, but when meeting friends, I’d sometimes drink a bottle of wine, over a meal or going from pub to pub.
“Before, I never really thought much about the cancer risk but it’s been proven that cutting down on alcohol can reduce the risk of breast cancer and, for me, lower the chances of it coming back.”
Caroline Tweedie, Lead Practitioner for Living with Cancer for South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust says: “I think many people are surprised to know that alcohol causes cancer and particularly breast cancer.
“There are some factors that increase your risk of getting breast cancer that you can’t do anything about, such as genetics and age, but there are some lifestyle risks that we can control and two of the main ones are alcohol and obesity.
“For people who have been diagnosed with cancer or are in remission, limiting what you drink may also help prevent the cancer returning and help you to keep a healthy weight.
“I think if more women knew about breast cancer risk, we would support one another to drink that bit less and say it’s alright if you don’t want to have another drink.”
Last year Balance launched a Blueprint for Reducing Alcohol Harm calling on the Government to take urgent action to reduce the harm caused by alcohol to tackle the significant impact of alcohol on families, health, social care, crime, disorder, workplaces, and the economy.
Susan Taylor, Head of Alcohol Policy for Fresh and Balance, said: “There are still myths about some alcoholic drinks being better or worse for you than others. But all types of alcohol increase the risk of cancer – as it’s the alcohol itself that causes damage, potentially even in small amounts.
“The very aggressive targeting of women by alcohol companies is also a massive concern when women face greater health risks than men from lower levels of drinking.
“We need a national strategy to tackle alcohol harm – that’s why we launched the Balance Blueprint for action setting out bold measures which are needed to save lives and curb unprecedented levels of alcohol-related harm across the North East and the UK.”
References
[1]: World Health Organisation in The Lancet https://www.who.int/europe/news-room/04-01-2023-no-level-of-alcohol-consumption-is-safe-for-our-health
[2] Figures applied from Alcohol and cancer deaths figures taken from Global Burden of Disease, Office for Health Improvement and Disparities Public Health Profiles and – https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/local-alcohol-profiles/data#page/3/gid/1938132848/pat/6/par/E12000001/ati/402/are/E06000047/iid/92323/age/164/sex/1/cat/-1/ctp/-1/yrr/3/cid/4/tbm/1/page-options/car-do-0