Cancer risks associated with drinking alcohol

 

• Despite established connections, study finds almost 60% of U.S. adults are unaware or uncertain of the link between alcohol and cancer 

• An estimated 75,000 cancer cases are associated with alcohol annually in the U.S. 

• Researchers suggest implementing new Surgeon General recommendations could be an effective approach to reducing future cancer rates 

HOUSTON, MAY 29, 2025 ― Alcohol is a leading preventable cause of cancer, but public awareness of the connection remains strikingly low in the U.S., with just 40% of American adults recognizing alcohol as a cancer risk, according to a new study from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.  

The findings, published today in JAMA Oncology, reveal that 39% of American adults are not aware of the connection between cancer and alcohol and an additional 20% are uncertain whether they have heard or read about the link. Additionally, of the 5,937 respondents, just over 30% believe that cancer prevention is not possible.  

“Despite the well-established association between alcohol and cancer, alcohol consumption has continued to rise in the U.S.,” said corresponding author Sanjay Shete, Ph.D., deputy division head of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences. “Our findings suggest that many individuals are unaware of the significant benefit in reducing or eliminating alcohol intake. Simply put, the more a person drinks, the greater their risk of developing cancer.” 

Consuming alcohol has been linked to at least seven types of cancer, including colorectal, breast, liver, mouth, voice box, throat and esophageal. Each year, alcohol-related cancers claim the lives of more than 20,000 Americans, but nearly 70% of American adults admit to consuming alcoholic beverages. In January 2025, the U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory about how alcohol increases cancer risk that also called for a new health warning label on alcoholic beverages.  

Researchers found that awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer was lowest among Black respondents (30%), those with some college education or less (35.2%), and those who did not believe cancer prevention was possible (31.5%). Alternatively, respondents who had experienced cancer had a higher likelihood of being aware of the connection. 

“Given we now know there is an increased risk of cancer, even at low levels of alcohol consumption, it is imperative to improve public awareness,” Shete said. “We hope these findings encourage clinicians to speak with their patients directly and that the immediate revision of drinking guidelines becomes a national priority.”  

This study was based on data from the 2022 Health Information National Trends Survey  and was measured through the question: “Have you ever heard or read that alcohol increases the risk of cancer?” Possible responses were: “yes,” “no,” or “don’t know.” 

 

People who are night owls decline cognitively faster than early birds

 

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

Because we are getting older, there are more and more people with dementia. Within a large national study, the BIRD-NL project, the UMCG, together with many partners, is researching ways to prevent dementia. ‘The fact is that your brain deteriorates after the age of 40, says Wenzler. ‘We study which lifestyle or other factors can reduce the risk of dementia.’

What is your chronotype?

Wenzler's area of research is sleep. 'Using Lifelines data, I look at people's sleep rhythms. Are you an early bird or a night owl? It's hard to adjust what your biological clock - your so-called chronotype - is, but you can adjust your life to it as best you can. In my research, I looked at whether your chronotype affects your cognition through behavior.'

Based on questionnaires that Lifelines participants filled in about their sleep times, Wenzler was able to determine the extent to which people are extreme early or late sleepers, and everything in between. She then looked at the results of a cognitive function test over a 10-year period: how did early scores differ from scores 10 years later?

More frequent unhealthy behaviour in the evening

The conclusion: evening people decline cognitively faster than morning people. ‘Unhealthy behavior such as smoking, drinking and unhealthy eating happens more often in the evening’, says Wenzler. 'In our study, we also saw this: evening people smoke and drink more often and exercise less. 25% of the risk of cognitive decline can be explained from our research by smoking and poor sleep.' Interestingly, the difference was found mostly in higher-educated people. 'That probably has to do with their sleep rhythm. They are often people who have to go back to work early in the morning and are therefore more likely to sleep too short, giving their brains too little rest.'

Genetic evolution

Wenzler, herself more of an early bird a night owl, explains how people's biological clocks are genetically altered. 'Children are morning people. That changes when you reach puberty, when you become an evening person. Around your 20s, that gradually shifts back towards morning people for most people. By the age of 40, most people are morning people again. But this is certainly not the case for everyone. In this way, evening people deviate from the norm'.

Work against your body as little as possible

There is little you can do about being an evening person. That is why Wenzler recommends working against your body as little as possible. 'You can try to go to sleep earlier, but if your body is not yet producing melatonin (sleep hormone, ed.) it will not work: your body simply does not want to sleep yet. We suspect that lower- or middle-educated people are more likely to have a job that allows them to take their sleep rhythm into account, such as a job in the hospitality industry or one with night shifts. If this is not possible, your brain does not get enough rest and you are more likely to adopt bad habits. It would be nice if more consideration was given to evening people who now have to work early: for example, by giving them the option of starting later.'

Follow-up research

Meanwhile, Wenzler's research continues. 'We are now investigating whether evening people are more likely to develop dementia. Faster cognitive decline in middle age does not necessarily mean a higher risk of dementia. With our research, we hope to find out more about this. This will ultimately help us to be able to give people informed advice on how to try to prevent dementia.'

Midlife weight loss linked to longer, healthier lives

 

FacebookXLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

A University of Helsinki study tracked 23,000 individuals from Finland and the UK, aged 30 to 50 at the outset, over a period of 12 to 35 years. Health benefits were found in overweight men and women who lost an average of 6.5% of their body weight in early middle age and maintained it throughout the 12–35-year follow-up period. Weight maintenance is crucial.

“The benefits of lifestyle-based weight management are widely discussed even though studies have found it surprisingly difficult to demonstrate health benefits beyond the prevention of diabetes,” notes Professor Timo Strandberg. 

The study he led is now filling this gap.

“I hope the findings will inspire people to see that lifestyle changes can lead to major health improvements and a longer life. This is particularly important today as more people are overweight than when the collection of our research data began 35 years ago.”

The study also supports the view that, for optimal health, a lifelong body mass index (BMI) under 25 is ideal.  

The study was published in JAMA Network Open, the open-access journal of the American Medical Association.

Whether it's smoking or edibles, marijuana is bad for your heart

 

FacebookXLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

A new study led by UC San Francisco researchers finds that chronic cannabis use — whether it’s smoked or consumed in edible form — is associated with significant cardiovascular risks. 

The report, published May 28 in JAMA Cardiology, found that people who regularly used marijuana in either form had reduced blood vessel function that was comparable to tobacco smokers. Vascular function in those who used cannabis by either means was reduced roughly by half compared to those who did not use it. 

Decreased vascular function is associated with a greater risk of heart attack, hypertension, and other cardiovascular conditions.  

The researchers recruited 55 people between October 2021 and August 2024 who were outwardly healthy and either regularly smoked marijuana or consumed edibles containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive compound found in cannabis.  

The participants, none of whom used any form of nicotine, consumed cannabis at least three times a week for at least a year. Smokers averaged 10 years of chronic use, and those who took edibles averaged five years.  

Along with decreased vascular function, marijuana smokers had changes in their blood serum that were harmful to endothelial cells, which form the inner lining of all blood and lymphatic vessels. Those who took edibles containing THC, however, did not display these changes in blood serum. 

It’s unclear how THC damages blood vessels. But the researchers said it must be happening in a way that does not involve those changes to blood serum. 

These results suggest smoking marijuana negatively affects vascular function for different reasons than ingesting THC does, according to first author Leila Mohammadi, MD, PhD, and senior author Matthew L. Springer, PhD. 

Knee arthritis made worse with steroid injections

 

Researchers comparing two injections commonly used to relieve knee pain from osteoarthritis—corticosteroid and hyaluronic acid—found that corticosteroid injections were associated with higher progression of the disease. The research was published today in Radiology, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Hyaluronic acid was associated with decreased progression on MRI up to two years post-injection.

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), osteoarthritis affects about 528 million people worldwide. Knee osteoarthritis is a chronic, degenerative and progressive condition. With a prevalence of 365 million, the knee is the most frequently affected joint, according to the WHO. A number of patients with knee osteoarthritis seek non-invasive treatment for pain relief through corticosteroid or hyaluronic acid injections.

“Our study directly challenges a common clinical practice: the use of corticosteroid injections for knee osteoarthritis symptom relief,” said Upasana Upadhyay Bharadwaj, M.D., who was a research fellow in the Department of Radiology at University of California, San Francisco, at the time of the research. “It presents robust evidence that corticosteroids accelerate structural knee degeneration, even after a single injection.”

For the study, researchers evaluated the association between intra-articular injections—a medical procedure where a medication is injected directly into a joint space—and osteoarthritis progression using a whole-organ semi-quantitative MRI evaluation (WORMS) and clinical outcomes over a two-year period.

Data was analyzed from 210 participants from the Osteoarthritis Initiative, a multicenter, longitudinal, observational study of nearly 5,000 men and women with knee arthritis—sponsored by the National Institutes of Health—currently in its 14th year of follow-up.

The research team looked at 70 participants who had one injection in the knee—either corticosteroid or hyaluronic acid—and who had knee MRIs taken before, at the time of, and two years after the injection. They used WORMS to assess how much damage had occurred in different parts of the knee joint over time. These scores were compared to a control group of 140 individuals with similar characteristics who did not receive any injection.

“This study is the first to use WORMS to assess the progression of knee osteoarthritis following a single intra-articular injection of either corticosteroids or hyaluronic acid, with a 2-year follow-up,” Dr. Upadhyay Bharadwaj said. “Prior studies relied predominantly on X-ray assessments or advanced quantitative MRI requiring specialized postprocessing. Unlike those, this study uses semi-quantitative scoring feasible in clinical settings and isolates patients who received only one injection.”

Of the 70 patients who received injections, 44 were injected with corticosteroids, and 26 were injected with hyaluronic acid. The treatment and control groups were matched by age, sex, body mass index, pain and physical activity scores, and severity of disease.

The study found that corticosteroid injections led to more knee joint damage over the two-year period than both the control group and those who received hyaluronic acid injections, Dr. Upadhyay Bharadwaj noted. In contrast, hyaluronic acid injections were linked to less progression of joint damage and even appeared to slow down the damage compared to before the injection. Both types of injections helped reduce knee pain, but only hyaluronic acid seemed to help without causing further joint harm.

“The most striking finding is that a single corticosteroid injection led to significantly greater structural damage in the knee joint over two years, especially in cartilage, while hyaluronic acid injections not only avoided this damage but actually showed reduced joint deterioration post-injection,” she said. “Corticosteroids are known to reduce inflammation but also impair the repair mechanisms of cartilage and can inhibit matrix synthesis.”

Over time, this may lead to weakened cartilage and increased susceptibility to damage, accelerating the progression of osteoarthritis.

“There is also evidence of subchondral bone changes and risk of insufficiency fractures linked to steroid injections,” Dr. Upadhyay Bharadwaj said. “This study could lead to more judicious use of corticosteroid injections, especially for patients with mild to moderate osteoarthritis who are not yet surgical candidates.”

Dr. Upadhyay Bharadwaj said that clinicians may opt for hyaluronic acid injections more frequently or consider alternative pain management strategies that don't accelerate structural deterioration. Guidelines might evolve to recommend against routine use of corticosteroids in favor of approaches with better long-term safety profiles for joint health.

“Given their widespread use, these findings could influence clinical guidelines and patient care decisions, encouraging more cautious use and stronger consideration of alternatives like hyaluronic acid,” she said. “The public impact is significant, as osteoarthritis is a major global cause of disability, and millions receive such injections annually.”

Sugar consumed through soda, fruit juice = higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes

 

'Drinking your sugar—whether from soda or juice—is more problematic for health than eating it'

For years, we've been told that sugar is a major culprit behind the global rise in type 2 diabetes. Now, emerging evidence from BYU researchers adds nuance to that message, suggesting not all sugar sources carry the same risk.

In the largest and most comprehensive meta-analysis of its kind, BYU researchers—in collaboration with researchers from Germany-based institutions—found that the type and source of sugar may matter far more than previously thought. Researchers analyzed data from over half a million people across multiple continents, revealing a surprising twist: sugar consumed through beverages—like soda and even fruit juice—was consistently linked to a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D). Meanwhile, other sugar sources showed no such link and, in some cases, were even associated with a lower risk.

“This is the first study to draw clear dose-response relationships between different sugar sources and type 2 diabetes risk,” said Karen Della Corte, lead author and BYU nutritional science professor. “It highlights why drinking your sugar—whether from soda or juice—is more problematic for health than eating it.”

After correcting for body mass index, excess energy intake and several other lifestyle risk factors, the researchers found the following dose-response relationships:

• With each additional 12-oz serving of sugar-sweetened beverages (i.e., soft drinks, energy drinks and sports drinks) per day, the risk for developing T2D increased by 25%. This strong relationship showed that the increased risk began from the very first daily serving with no minimum threshold below which intake appeared to be safe.
• With each additional 8-oz serving of fruit juice per day (i.e., 100% fruit juice, nectars and juice drinks), the risk for developing T2D increased by 5%.
• The above risks are relative not absolute. For example, if the average person’s baseline risk of developing T2D is about 10%, four sodas a day could raise that to roughly 20%, not 100%.
• Comparatively, 20 g/day intakes of total sucrose (table sugar) and total sugar (the sum of all naturally occurring and added sugars in the diet) showed an inverse association with T2D, hinting at a surprising protective association.

Why drinking sugar would be more problematic than eating sugar may come down to the differing metabolic effects. Sugar-sweetened beverages and fruit juice supply isolated sugars, leading to a greater glycemic impact that would overwhelm and disrupt liver metabolism thereby increasing liver fat and insulin resistance.

On the other hand, dietary sugars consumed in or added to nutrient-dense foods, such as whole fruits, dairy products, or whole grains, do not cause metabolic overload in the liver. These embedded sugars elicit slower blood glucose responses due to accompanying fiber, fats, proteins and other beneficial nutrients.

Fruit juice, even with some vitamins and nutrients, is much less beneficial. Because of its high and concentrated sugar content, the researchers conclude that fruit juice is a poor substitute for whole fruits, which provide more fiber to support better blood glucose regulation.

“This study underscores the need for even more stringent recommendations for liquid sugars such as those in sugar-sweetened beverages and fruit juice, as they appear to harmfully associate with metabolic health," Della Corte said. "Rather than condemning all added sugars, future dietary guidelines might consider the differential effects of sugar based on its source and form."

---

Journal

Advances in Nutrition

DOI

10.1016/j.advnut.2025.100413 

Looking to cut calories? Try adding chilies, study suggests

 

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Penn State

FacebookXLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

 

image: 

A team of researchers at Penn State found that increasing spiciness slightly using dried chili pepper slowed down eating and reduced the amount of food and energy consumed at a meal, all without negatively affecting the palatability of the dish. The study was led by Paige Cunningham, pictured, a postdoctoral researcher who earned her doctorate in nutritional sciences from Penn State in 2023. 

view more 

Credit: Patrick Mansell / Penn State

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Throwing a little heat on your meal might be an effective strategy for cutting back on calories, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State.

Scientists at the University’s Sensory Evaluation Center examined how increasing "oral burn"— the spicy taste from ingredients like chili pepper — affects how much food people consume during a meal. The findings, available online now and slated to publish in the October issue of the journal Food Quality and Preference, suggest that making the meal slightly spicier led participants to eat less, consuming fewer calories.

“We know from previous studies that when people slow down, they eat significantly less,” said Paige Cunningham, a postdoctoral researcher and lead author on the study who earned her doctorate in nutritional sciences from Penn State in 2023. “We suspected that making a meal spicier might slow people down. We thought, let's test, under controlled experimental conditions in the lab, if adding a small amount of spice, but not so much that the meal is inedible, will make people eat slower and therefore eat less.”

The researchers found that increasing spiciness slightly using dried chili pepper slowed down eating and reduced the amount of food and energy consumed at a meal, all without negatively affecting the palatability of the dish.

“This points to added chilies as a potential strategy for reducing the risk of energy overconsumption,” said John Hayes, Penn State professor of food science and corresponding author on the paper. “While portion control wasn’t the explicit goal of this study, our results suggest this might work. Next time you're looking to eat a little less, try adding a blast of chilies, as it may slow you down and help you eat less.”

The team conducted three related experiments in a total of 130 adults who were served one of two lunch meals — beef chili or chicken tikka masala — in one of two versions: mild or spicy. The spiciness level was controlled by carefully varying the ratio of hot versus sweet paprika added to the dishes to vary the heat while keeping chili flavor constant.

The researchers then recorded participants on high-definition video while they ate their meals to monitor their eating behaviors. From the videos, Hayes’ team measured the amount of food and water consumed, meal duration, eating speed of grams per minute, bite rate, bite size, and collected ratings on appetite, liking and spiciness before and after the meal.

“Formulating the recipes took a long time for the chicken tikka,” Cunningham said. “It took so many rounds of testing that my lab mates were sick of it. But science is about trial and error. I'd make a recipe, see how far I could push the spiciness, and we'd taste it. We did that until we reached a level where palatability was matched even when spiciness increased.”

The study suggests the reduction in intake is driven by changes in oral processing behaviors, she explained. Specifically, participants ate the spicier meals more slowly. She explained that a slower eating rate often means food is in the mouth longer, which can help signal fullness and lead to eating less. Other studies that slow eating rate by manipulating texture have shown similar effects, she said.

“What’s critical here is that the reduction in intake occurred without negatively impacting how much participants liked the food,” Hayes said.

He added that water intake didn't differ significantly between spicy and mild meals, suggesting that one seemingly obvious explanation, that people drank more water and filled up faster, was not the primary reason people ate less.

“This is why we need to do empirical studies of behavior, because what you might intuitively expect is often not the case,” he said.

Hayes also noted that appetite ratings made before and after the meals were similar, suggesting participants still felt full after the spicy meal, despite eating less of it. Looking ahead, the team is now focused on understanding how oral burn can impact other eating behaviors, like snacking.

Isaiah Smith, a Penn State undergraduate from West Chester, also contributed to this work as part of an Undergraduate Research Internship Program from the NASA Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium. This work was supported by a gift from the McCormick Science Institute and federal appropriations under the Hatch Act from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

---

Journal

Food Quality and Preference

DOI

10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105566