UMN Research emphasizes alcohol for cancer compounds when the drinking of students decreases – the Minnesota Daily

The former US surgeon General Vivek Murthy published Advice in January for the public about the direct connection between alcohol consumption and increased risk of cancer. Now work at the Freemason Cancer Center at the University of Minnesota can give a better view of this link.

The research by Professor of the University of Minnesota Public Health, Professor Silvia Balbo, is cited in the consultation. Balbo, co-manager of the Masonic Cancer Center at the university, examines the interaction of DNA and chemicals.

It continues to examine, such as acetaldehyde, a chemical compound generated by the body during the metabolism of alcohol.

Despite the continued study of the center, Balbo said that we still had a lot to learn how the body's interaction could lead to certain types of cancer with alcohol.

Advice, which outlined alcohol consumption as a leading avoidable cause for seven different types of cancer, called for a stronger public awareness of the risk of still moderate alcohol consumption. Despite this connection between alcohol consumption and cancer, which are established almost four decades ago, less than half of the adults of the US -growing people are aware of the risk, according to the report.

Murthy decided in the consultation that alcohol consumption contributes to almost 100,000 cancer cases and 20,000 related deaths every year.

Balbo said her research aimed to support the information, guidelines and scientific evidence that enable the public to make more well -founded decisions about alcohol consumption.

“In my laboratory we try to understand the hypothesis that acetaldehyde ultimately damages the DNA and leads at the beginning of the carcinogenic process,” said Balbo. “The other big question is:” Okay, if that's true, how much alcohol do I have to drink “or is there a safe level?”

The study cited in the consultation showed that controlled alcoholosis increased the DNA damage. The study also aimed to identify markers for those who have a higher risk of developing certain types of cancer.

Balbo said around 30% of people from countries from Osteasia – such as China, Japan, Taiwan and Korea – cannot really dismantle acetaldehyde due to their genetics. When alcohol, these people drink together with other symptoms when the face becomes red and hot.

“People from these special areas who have this genetic background and still drink have a much higher risk of head and neck cancer if they continue to drink alcohol,” said Balbo.

Balbo said that adding warning signs to alcoholic beverages, which were shown in the advice as a necessary next step for the prevention of alcohol -related cancer, are important for consumers.

Balbo added that the addition of labels to alcoholic products should be a means to inform the public and not to stigmatize consumption as a whole.

“It is about knowing that this is a risk, and then you decide what you want to do,” said Balbo. “The other piece is that there is none of these risks in a vacuum, each of us has our own risks.”

Current research does not support the idea that there is advantages after a slight or moderate consumption Article of the New York Times.

Overall, American views for drinking seemed to change over the years.

Recently Surveys from Gallup45% of the Americans say that it is unhealthy to drink one or two alcoholic drinks a day. Younger adults aged 18 to 34 see alcohol consumption negative at higher rates.

According to Gallup, the self -registered alcohol consumption in young adults has depressed down in the early 2000s.

At the university, the high-risk drinking among the students has decreased by 10% since 2015, as the report about the student Health Survey 2024 from Boynton Health looked.

Michelle Trumpy, director of Boynton's public health, said the survey of Twin Cities campus showed that a drinking drink is steadily decreasing, with more students changing on alcohol and on the campus.

According to Trumpy, the survey, which was carried out every two to three years, showed 16 percentage points from 2007 to 2024 from 2007 to 2024. It said that the abstinence of drinking has increased by six percentage points and the average number of drinks used per week fell from 4.2 to 2.9.

Trumpy said there are many campus guidelines and programs for students who support the reduction in drinking with high risk, a focus that coincides with advising the general surgeon in promoting healthier behavior on alcohol consumption.

“We know that alcohol programming, the data on alcohol consumption, the action on this data, the merging of campus partners together to talk about these healthy environments that are part of our strategy to fix alcohol consumption on the campus,” said Trumpy.

While studies at the university have been found in the decline in connection with drinking habits, some students believe that these habits are still an important factor for life on campus.

The veterinary student in the second year, Sunil Kircherla, said he had the feeling that drinking at the university is rather normalized compared to his experience at Ohio State University.

Kancherla said that warning signs on alcoholic beverages may not change his drinking behavior as someone who occasionally drinks, but could not significantly change, but could help to raise awareness of the risks.

“I would assume that more or less everyone knows that alcohol in excess is bad,” said Kancherla. “I just don't know to what extent people understand that every alcohol is bad, just as people understand that cigarettes are bad.”

Adele Vincent, student in the fourth year, said that they had met mixed settings for drinking among the students, from those who avoid them to those who drink strongly. In view of normal normalization at larger universities, Vincent said that the addition of warning discs that disclose the risk would be important regardless of how the students react.

“Sometimes I see warning discs in relation to things, and I have this naive 21-year-old thoughts, that won't happen to me,” said Vincent. “I would like to think that some people would take it seriously.”

According to a NIH survey of 2023, full-time students are more likely to take part in drinking high risks or alcohol consumption and consume five or more drinks in one session. Drinking binge, defined as a drinking pattern that brings a person's BAC to 0.08%, exposes a person to a person's body in a short time and has the potential to increase these cancer risks.

Balbo said that there is currently not enough scientific evidence to combine the effects of ages and drinking early drinking risk, but it is one of the questions that you try to understand research better. Balbo added that the proposed warning signs that were described in the consultation could have a positive effect on young people who take a high risk of drinking or drinking.

“The general idea is that you can drink alcohol, but it's just about doing this in moderation and knowing about some of the associated risks,” said Balbo.

It is expected report from Reuters.

Balbo said this was a missed opportunity for clearer instructions in the middle of the growing evidence of the risks associated with alcohol consumption, which are listed in advice and research.

“It is true that it is difficult to be precise and determine precise quantities, but I think that it would have been more useful to give some guidelines about what the drinking in moderation means,” said Balbo. “I think that people will probably no longer use the US guidelines to understand what that is and have to refer to something else.”