Cancers Linked To Alcohol Use
Alcohol use has been linked with cancers of the:
Alcohol probably also increases the risk of cancer of the stomach, and might affect the risk of some other cancers as well.
For each of these cancers, the more alcohol you drink, the higher your cancer risk. But for some types of cancer, most notably breast cancer, consuming even small amounts of alcohol can increase risk.
Cancers of the mouth, throat, voice box, and esophagus: Alcohol use clearly raises the risk of these cancers. Drinking and smoking together raises the risk of these cancers many times more than drinking or smoking alone. This might be because alcohol can help harmful chemicals in tobacco get inside the cells that line the mouth, throat, and esophagus. Alcohol may also limit how these cells can repair damage to their DNA caused by the chemicals in tobacco.
Liver cancer: Long-term alcohol use has been linked to an increased risk of liver cancer. Regular, heavy alcohol use can damage the liver, leading to inflammation and scarring, which might be why it raises the risk of liver cancer.
Colon and rectal cancer: Alcohol use has been linked with a higher risk of cancers of the colon and rectum. The evidence for this is generally stronger in men than in women, but studies have found the link in both sexes.
The Relationship Between Alcohol Abuse And Kidney Disease
Kidney disease can be caused by a number of factors, with one of them being chronic alcohol abuse. While many other factors, such as family history and lifestyle, also affect a persons chance of developing kidney disease, alcohol can significantly increase a persons susceptibility to this condition.
When alcohol is consumed in an unhealthy way on a regular basis, kidney issues can be exacerbated to the point of kidney damage and disease. When a person develops kidney disease, he or she may experience a number of other health issues as a result.
Health problems caused by kidney damage may include:
- anemia
- damaged immune system, which can make people more susceptible to illness
- swelling in the legs, arms, and feet as a result of fluid retention
- sexual dysfunction
Symptoms You May Experience
The areas around your kidneys may feel sore after you drink alcohol. This is the area at the back of your abdomen, under your ribcage on both sides of your spine. This pain may be felt as a sudden, sharp, stabbing pain or more of a dull ache. It may be mild or severe and can be felt on one or both sides of the body.
Kidney pain may be felt in the upper or lower back or between the buttocks and lower ribs. The pain may be felt immediately after consuming alcohol or after youve stopped drinking. Sometimes it gets worse at night.
Other symptoms include:
There are many causes of kidney pain. Its important to understand the reason for your discomfort in case its a sign of something serious. Read on to learn more about these conditions and how to treat them.
Don’t Miss: Palo Azul For Kidney Stones
Does The Type Of Alcoholic Drink Matter
The Panel judges that alcoholic drinks are a cause of various cancers, irrespective of the type of alcoholic drink consumed. This is because all alcohol contains;ethanol and ethanol is the cancer causing compound. The extent to which alcoholic drinks are a cause of various cancers depends on the amount and frequency of alcohol consumed.
Kidney Failure And Alcohol Consumption
The clinic notes that acute kidney failure as the result of alcoholism can develop in a matter of days or even hours. If untreated or if alcohol consumption continues, it can be fatal. Full recovery is possible, but there is the risk that the kidneys will be damaged beyond normal functioning.
As an example of the kind of health complications that can arise from alcohol damage to the kidneys, the Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation journal reported in 2009 that moderate-heavy alcohol consumption may be an important risk factor for albuminuria, a condition that describes the presence of a type of protein that is normally found in the blood becoming present in urine. The name is derived from albumin, a protein that is used in building muscle, fighting infection and repairing tissue.
Healthy kidneys ensure that such proteins stay out of a normal urine flow; kidneys suffering from chronic alcohol abuse, on the other hand, cannot stop proteins from leaking into urine. The National Kidney Foundation warns that albuminuria can be an early sign of kidney disease, which will require nephrology treatment.
Recommended Reading: Wine And Kidney Stones
Alcohol Industry Manipulation Of The Science On Alcohol And Cancer
A study published in 2017 has found that front organisations set up by the world’s leading alcohol companies are actively misleading the public about the risk of cancer due to alcohol consumption. The study drew parallels with the long-standing activities of the tobacco industry. It also claimed that there was a particular focus on misleading women drinkers, because much of the misinformation about cancer produced by these companies was found to be focused on breast cancer.
The alcohol industry around the world has also campaigned to remove laws that require alcoholic beverages to have cancer warning labels.
What To Do For Controlling Alcohol Consumption
A person should always consult the doctor and makes sure about his/her safety to drink alcohol. Even alcohol intake is safe; you should make sure to have it in moderation. In fact, you should essentially follow a safety guideline i.e. never drink more than one or two drinks in a day. Especially, you should strictly follow this rule if you are conceiving or you are exceeding 65 years age. In this way, you will expect to avoid kidney problems and kidney pain from taking place in the near future.
Therefore, individuals should definitely put a limit on the intake of alcohol in a day and never go for consuming alcohol by exceeding the limits mentioned here.
| Written, Edited or Reviewed By:Pramod Kerkar, M.D., FFARCSI, DA Pain Assist Inc.This article does not provide medical advice. See disclaimerLast Modified On: March 9, 2018 |
Read Also: Is Pineapple Juice Good For Kidney Stones
Why Do My Kidneys Hurt After Drinking Alcohol
Ask U.S. doctors your own question and get educational, text answers â it’s anonymous and free!
Ask U.S. doctors your own question and get educational, text answers â it’s anonymous and free!
HealthTap doctors are based in the U.S., board certified, and available by text or video.
Different People React Differently To Alcohol
Its impossible to define a safe amount of alcohol when youre being treated for advanced kidney cancer, says Dr. Agarwal. However, his experience is that patients often figure out for themselves how much they can tolerate by how intense their medication side effects are. For example, you may have a glass of wine one night with no issues, but when you have two scotches another night, you have horrific acid reflux or raging diarrhea. You may even decide drinking while on treatment is just not worth it. Ultimately, only you can know how much or little works for you.
Read Also: Watermelon Kidney Disease
Alcohol And Kidney Stones: Whats The Relationship
There is not significant evidence that alcohol directly causes kidney stones. Alcohol use particularly excessive alcohol use in which a woman drinks four or more alcoholic drinks in a single occasion or a man drinks five or more drinks during a single session is, however, linked to the development of a variety of other health problems. Some of these health issues include kidney damage, kidney failure, high blood pressure, various cancers, weakened immune system, mental health problems, social problems, and alcohol use disorders .2,3 Some of these issues directly or indirectly negatively impact the renal system.
Concentrated urine can occur when the body is dehydrateda leading cause of kidney stones.3 Dehydration can occur when people do not drink enough water to help the kidneys remove waste from the blood.3
Other causes and risk factors of kidney stones include:
- Past kidney stones.
- Conditions that causes your urine to contain high levels of cystine, oxalate, uric acid or calcium.
- Conditions that cause swelling or irritation in your bowel or your joints.
- Certain medicines, such as diuretics or calcium-based antacids.
If you are concerned about the way your drinking may be impacting your health, treatment for compulsive drinking can help. Reach out to our admissions navigators to learn about your alcohol treatment options at .
Binge Drinking Alcohol And Kidney Disease
If you are a binge drinker, then you put yourself in the increasing danger of kidney disease. Binge drinking is consuming 4 to 5 plus drinks an hour. However, binge drinking floods your body with alcohol and increases BAC drastically. As a result, your kidneys cant keep up and lose their function. This damage from alcohol on your kidneys causes lasting damage.
Read Also: Is Pineapple Good For Kidney Stones
Subject Selection And Cancer Case Ascertainment
Participants were excluded from this analysis if they had not returned the baseline and dietary questionnaire ; had questionnaires filled out by proxies ; had reported a previous kidney cancer at baseline ; or had missing follow-up data . Our final analytic population included 107,998 men and women.
PLCO participants were followed up for all cancer diagnoses by annual mailed questionnaire, with subsequent confirmation through medical records. For this analysis, we ascertained incident RCC cases through follow-up from the date of dietary questionnaire completion until December 31, 2009. Censoring events included death, loss to follow-up, renal pelvis cancer or kidney cancer in situ diagnosis, or end of follow-up.
Causes Liver Disease And Affects Kidneys
Chronic alcohol consumption may even result in liver disease, which further affects the function of kidneys. Blood flow rate to the kidneys remain at a specific level to filter the blood in a well manner. Liver disease further leads to impairment of this balancing act, which results in damages or pain to the kidney.
Also Check: Is Red Wine Bad For Kidney Stones
What Other Kidney Issues Are Associated With Alcohol/drinking
Kidneys are vital to the overall healthy functioning of the human body and serve as filtration devices for any harmful or toxic substance that enters your bloodstream. When someone drinks in excess, the kidneys have to work harder to filter the bodys blood and can cause immense stress on the kidneys. The dehydrating effect of alcohol can negatively impact your bodys cell and organ functions. Additionally, alcohol in the body can impact the hormones that contribute to healthy kidney function in your body.3
Regular heavy drinking has been known to double the risk of developing chronic kidney disease. Those who smoke cigarettes in addition to drinking heavily are about five times more likely to develop kidney disease than those who only drink excessively.3
Do You Need To Avoid Alcohol Completely
So do you need to avoid alcohol altogether? Your practitioner or healthcare provider is the best person to advise you on this matter.
Different blood cancers may have very different courses. Some chronic leukemias and lymphomas may not require treatment initially, for instance, and the burden in terms of lifestyle changes that are recommended may be less significant.
For the most part, it is recommended that you avoid drinking while you are undergoing treatment. If this is absolutely unacceptable to you, using small amounts in moderation may be approved by your specialist.
It is important that when you are discussing alcohol use with your healthcare team, you are upfront and honest about the quantity that you consume. If you drink on a regular basis, your team should know that so they can help you cut back on your intake slowly. Stopping alcohol abruptly can lead to serious health effects.
The American Cancer Society offers this statement on drinking alcohol during cancer chemotherapy:
“As with most questions related to a specific individuals cancer treatment, it is best for a patient to check with their healthcare team about whether or not it is safe to drink alcohol during or immediately following chemotherapy treatment. The healthcare providers and nurses administering the treatment will be able to give specific advice about whether drinking alcohol is safe with particular chemotherapy drugs and/or other medications prescribed along with chemotherapy.”
Also Check: Is Pomegranate Juice Good For Your Kidneys
A Drink Or 2 A Day May Reduce The Risk Of Renal Cell Carcinoma But Whats The Science Behind This Effect Hint: Genes Are Involved
The number of people who die each year from kidney cancer has remained unchanged for at least two decades. Its difficult to explain this observation, in part because we know little about who is at risk,.1,2 ;In addition, because of the availability of imaging studies , kidney cancer is detected at an earlier stage than it had been.
Take Note
- The protective effects of alcohol consumption on the development of RCC depended on variations in study participants alcohol dehydrogenase genes.
- There was no added benefit beyond the consumption of 2 drinks a day.
- The results need to be replicated in various subpopulations that were not well-represented in this study including women, African Americans, and persons of Hispanic origin.
Multiple epidemiologic studies have reported that people who drink moderate amounts of alcohol are at reduced risk of developing renal cell carcinoma , the most common form of kidney cancer, accounting for 80% to 85% of cases.2
But does alcohol intake affect everyone the same way with regard to RCC? A new study,2 the results of which were recently published in the International Journal of Cancer, endeavored to find out.
Looking to DNA for answers
In this large case-control study, investigators used a risk factor questionnaire to assess alcohol intake in 652 patients with RCC and 1366 noncancer controls.
A tipping point beyond too much tippling?
More sophisticated data are coming
What are the implications?
References
Can Drinking Alcohol Cause Kidney Cancer
Alcohol and kidney cancer There is strong evidence that consuming up to two alcoholic drinks a day lowers the risk of developing kidney cancer. However, alcohol increases the risk of six common cancers and other diseases. Scientists think that alcohol can directly damage DNA, increasing our risk of cancer.
You May Like: Is Watermelon Bad For Kidneys
The Verdict: Can Alcohol Cause Kidney Stones
In short, alcohol, especially wine, is associated with a reduced risk of kidney stones.; However, this does not mean everyone should start drinking alcohol to reduce kidney stone risk.; There are many other, more impactful, dietary changes you can make to prevent kidney stones including getting in adequate fluid and calcium, consuming the right amount of protein and oxalate, as well as keeping sugar and salt to a minimum.
Alcohol comes with serious risks, which must be taken into account when making the decision to drink.; If you do decide alcohol is alright for you, pay close attention to portion size and how many drinks you have at one time.; If you do this, alcohol can be part of a healthy diet for kidney stones!
Cheers & Happy Eating!
Melanie
How Much Alcohol Is Too Much
When experts talk about one drink, they are talking about one 12-ounce bottle of beer, one glass of wine , or one shot of “hard liquor.”
Having more than three drinks in a day for women, and more than four drinks in a day for men, is considered “heavy” drinking. The kidneys of heavy drinkers have to work harder. Heavy drinking on a regular basis has been found to double the risk for kidney disease.
Binge drinking can raise a person’s blood alcohol to dangerous levels. This can cause a sudden drop in kidney function known as “acute kidney injury.” When this happens, dialysis is needed until a person’s kidney function returns to normal. Acute kidney injury usually goes away in time, but in some cases, it can lead to lasting kidney damage.
Some people should not drink at all. Ask your healthcare provider if it is safe for you to drink, especially if you have a medical condition or take medicines that might be affected by using alcohol. Women, older people, and those with smaller bodies should be especially careful. Of course, pregnant women are advised not to drink alcohol.
You May Like: Is Grape Juice Good For Kidneys
Effects On Other Harmful Chemicals
Alcohol may help other harmful chemicals, such as those in tobacco smoke, enter the cells lining the upper digestive tract more easily. This might explain why the combination of smoking and drinking is much more likely to cause cancers in the mouth or throat than smoking or drinking alone.
In other cases, alcohol may slow the bodys ability to break down and get rid of some harmful chemicals.
Treating Alcohol Use Disorder At Discovery Institute
If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, we can help. All it takes is one phone call. Our caring staff is waiting to show you how to take your life back. Contact us today for more treatment information.;
Reviewed for Medical & Clinical Accuracy by Dr. Jeffrey Berman, MD
Dr. Jeffrey Berman is a psychiatrist in Teaneck, New Jersey and is affiliated with Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. He received his medical degree from State University of New York Upstate Medical University and has been in practice for more than 20 years. He also speaks multiple languages, including French and Hebrew.
Recommended Reading: Can Kidney Stones Cause Constipation Or Diarrhea
Fortifying Spirits: When A Punch Is Good For The Kidneys
Alcohol intake boosts the risk of liver, breast and colon cancersbut seems to reduce it for kidney cancer
The idea that some bad habits might be beneficial isnt new. Resveratrol, found in red wine and chocolate, was once touted as an antioxidant that lowered the risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease. Red;wine drinkers rejoiced, but later studies showed that wine drinkers didnt live longerat least not because of resveratrol.
Kidney cancer is different. Large-scale studies have shown that the link between moderate alcohol use and a lower risk of kidney cancer is real: 2030% lower, depending on gender, age and the amount of alcohol consumed. Jung Eun Lee, a nutritional epidemiologist at Sookmyung Womens University in Seoul, for example, showed that a moderate drinkersomeone who consumes one medium glass of wine, or its alcohol equivalent, per dayhas a 28% lower risk of getting the disease. The evidence is con- vincing, Lee says. We found alcohol reduces renal-cancer risk.
The biological mechanism, however, remains a mystery. Hypotheses range from diuretic effects to interactions with hormones such as oestrogen and insulin. Figuring out what prevents kidney cancer is complicated by the diseases tangled relationship with risk factors. The disease is known to be more likely in smokers, as well as in people with diabetes or hypertension. All three are correlated with alcohol use.