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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I drink it because I like it. And I'm not too concerned about the cancer risk. It doesn't affect everyone the same. And given all of the carcinogens we are exposed to, there's a good chance that if you do get cancer, it'll be because of something else. [/quote]

A) this is a wildly uninformed opinion. you have no idea about the relative cancer risk of alcohol and how it affects everyone--the research is just starting to come through, but there is a clear and undeniable link between drinking and cancer. ignore it if you want, but don't pretend you understand the relative risk, because no one does.

B) nothing affects everyone the same... tobacco and nicotine dont' affect everyone the same. there are people who smoke their whole lives and dont' get cancer. there are lots of people who smoke who die of things other than cancer. neither of those facts have any relevance on the argument that you should not smoke because it is a high cancer risk. most people who smoke in any quantity for any moderate to long period will develop lung cancer... some people will develop lung cancer after smoking only a short period. alcohol is pretty similar, but the current research (still early) suggests that the risk of cancer from drinking is at least as serious as the risk of cancer from tobacco.

C) if you do get cancer, there's not a good chance it will be because of something else. it depends on the cancer and the person. but the research does show alcohol is very strongly connected to cancer. more strongly than a lto of other things we're concerned may be carcinogens.

D) I assume you don't smoke, or mishandle asbestos, etc. because you understand that while not ALL people get cancer from doing those things, the risk is not a joke. elevate alcohol to that level. [/quote]

So you admit that &quot;nothing affects everyone the same&quot; but then go on to insist that because there's a link (which you also admit is &quot;still early&quot; and no one understands the &quot;relative risk&quot;), my opinion about not being too concerned is somehow wildly uninformed. Got it.

[/quote]

It's early, there's a lot more to understand but what is already clear is that, like with tobacco, there is a very strong correlation and there is no &quot;safe&quot; amount of alcohol to avoid getting cancer. Maybe we'll learn more in the future, but what we know so far isn't wishy-washy -- alcohol consumption undeniably raises your risks for cancer. Full stop. How, why, what types of cancer, more details on the exact likelihood of developing cancer is not super clear. But it doesn't have to be-- as we both agree, different people are affected differently. Some people never get lung cancer despite being heavy smokers, some people develop lung cancer despite only light smoking many years prior. But most people do. UV Rays affect everyone's skin differently--though the variation isn't as much as it is with tobacco and lung cancer... most people, if they expose themselves enough WILL develop some form of skin cancer. Much more concrete than the tobacco connection. But there are people who burn the crap out of their skin and never get cancer.

But it's all probability.

Alcohol is going to be somewhere on the spectrum, maybe more or less probability of developing cancer than cigarette smoking, probably less than the sunburn--&gt;skin cancer probability. We don't know yet. But we do know it's the same game. And less consumption for shorter periods of your life, will lower the probability.[/quote]

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