Alcohol Can Cause Irreversible Genetic Damage To Stem Cells, Says Study (theguardian.com)

A new study, published on Wednesday, states that drinking alcohol produces a harmful chemical in the body which can lead to permanent genetic damage in the DNA of stem cells, increasing the risk of cancer developing. From a report: The research, using genetically modified mice, provides the most compelling evidence to date that alcohol causes cancer by scrambling the DNA in cells, eventually leading to deadly mutations. During the past decade, there has been mounting evidence of the link between drinking and the risk of certain cancers. "How exactly alcohol causes damage to us is controversial," said Prof Ketan Patel, who led the work at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. "This paper provides very strong evidence that an alcohol metabolite causes DNA damage [including] to the all-important stem cells that go on to make tissues." The study builds on previous work that had pinpointed a breakdown product of alcohol, called acetaldehyde, as a toxin that can damage the DNA within cells. However, these earlier studies had relied on extremely high concentrations of acetaldehyde and used cells in a dish rather than tracking its effects within the body.

Comments

Anyone?

[Anonymous Coward]

Hi,

I'm in my mid thirties, rather accomplished, with a very good job (tech) that I like, family with 2 kids etc. I drink way too much however and I fear I'm already borderline alcoholic. I've recently found this 'high functioning alcoholism' term and realized this is me. Which scares me a lot. I do know people that drink a lot in my family (I'm from eastern Europe...) and until recently I've never considered myself similar to them. For the record, I'm drinking on average 5 evenings per week, between half and a full bottle of wine (which is not that much, certainly I got used to it, so it doesn't put me in the drunk mode neither).

I keep an 'inner scorecard' which means I evaluate myself against what I used to be, and what I think I can accomplish (did I perform / accomplish something up to my potential, or did I just did a half-ass effort). Funnily enough, I always somehow discarded alcohol as a factor, justifying it (to myself) that it's not that influencing. Which is of course false. I should add that I work in the evenings very often (I love what I do btw) and most of those time, I drink too when working.

What made me realize this problem much more efficiently was running. I started quite recently and did some tests - how I perform, with the same training scheme, with and without alcohol for a period of time. Numbers don't lie. I run much better and also feel better.

As to why I'm drinking when I'm working alone, I don't really know (other than I like the taste). Not necessarily to forget problems or something. With perspective, this amounts to huge chunks of time, which certainly impacts my work on side projects / business. Sometimes I think I drink because I'm scared to actually succeed with this side stuff, and somehow unconsciously I sabotage myself.

Are / were you in this situation ? If you managed to stop, I would appreciate the 'how'.

Re:Anyone?

[Anonymous Coward]

My wife and I drink a lot. Almost every night. I wouldn't say we're alcoholics, but I agree, we drink too much. The problem is that craft beers (for me) and wine (for her) taste too damn good. I grab a beer because I like the taste, and likely grab another. I'm not getting drunk, and I'm fine in the morning. I'm also in my 30s, and thinking that perhaps I should be tapering off. I haven't not had a drink in a long time, so I don't know how I would perform or feel if I went a few weeks/months without it. I don't feel that I'm functioning at a reduced state, but maybe I am. I also have been seeing a lot of reports about the dangers of alcohol, and at some level, I feel they're aimed at me. Like the universe/fate is trying to tell me something.

I'd be interested to see other's thoughts and opinions.

Six (pack) of one, half a dozen of the other

[Daetrin]

So moderate alcohol use (supposedly) helps prevent heart disease but also (supposedly) increases your odds of cancer.

On one hand, repairing or replacing hearts, possibly from cloned stem cells, is theoretically easier than curing cancer and repairing damaged stem cells.

On the other hand, a heart attack is a lot more likely to catch you by surprise before you realize you need to have your heart repaired or replaced. Also, your stem cells are going to get damaged sooner or later anyways, alcohol just speeds up the process. So sooner or later we'll have to figure out how to repair or replace stem cells anyways.

Of course that's all taking the long view. In the short(er) view, none of us are getting out of this alive. So drink up i guess?

Re:Six (pack) of one, half a dozen of the other

[Oswald McWeany]

I think it's complicated. They say not to drink when you have a cold/flu because it doesn't really kills germs but in actual real-life use I've found it incredibly effective at taking out these type of infections. So much so that I will sometimes take a few shots of vodka when my infected kids/grandkids/etc come to visit. I have tested not doing this versus drinking and I can say with 100% confidence that drinking makes me less vulnerable to whatever infection that is near me and often heals me faster when I'm infected.

I know, nobody outside of Russia supports this but I can say for myself it is actually true.

In my large case study of one person, me, I have found that drinking sherry helps me get over a sore throat quicker. I love the taste of sherry, but don't buy it often because of the alcohol. I had sherry one time when I had a sore throat and felt better the next day, so now every time I get a sore throat I drink sherry. Seems to help, but my evidence is no better than Chinese folk medicine, or other untested techniques.