Don’t add on to the health-care burden

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/01/2025 (353 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

At a time when many Canadians are adopting the “Dry January” trend and others are reducing the amount of the alcohol they consume, there is another powerful reason to reconsider, and perhaps reject, the consumption of alcohol.

Yesterday, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a new advisory that warns Americans that drinking alcohol can increase their cancer risk.

He is calling for an updated health warning label on alcoholic beverages.

Dr. Murthy says that “Alcohol is a well-established, preventable cause of cancer responsible for about 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the United States — greater than the 13,500 alcohol-associated traffic crash fatalities per year in the U.S. — yet the majority of Americans are unaware of this risk.”

His concerns over the link between cancer and alcohol consumption are hardly new, and are not restricted to America. A report prepared by the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer says that alcohol consumption is linked to nearly 7,000 cancer deaths each year in Canada.

A report by the Canadian Cancer Society warns that drinking any type of alcohol, even at low levels, increases your risk of developing at several different types of cancer including breast, colorectal, esophageal, laryngeal, liver, mouth, pharyngeal, stomach and pancreatic cancers.

It says that drinking about 3.5 drinks per day doubles or even triples your risk of developing cancer, of the mouth, pharynx, larynx and esophagus.

The report adds that more than 40 per cent of Canadians are unaware that alcohol consumption increases the risk of cancer, and a report by Cancer Care Ontario says that just one-third of Canadians are aware they can lower their risk of cancer by reducing their alcohol consumption.

All of this information may come as a surprise to many of you, given the widespread belief that the moderate consumption of certain alcohol products can have beneficial health results.

The Cancer Care Ontario report addresses this issue, saying that, “While alcohol is a risk factor for cancer when consumed in any quantity, light to moderate levels of consumption can protect against cardiovascular disease. This poses unique challenges for increasing awareness of the link between alcohol consumption and cancer.”

Both Murthy and the Canadian Cancer Society want a label on alcoholic beverages that warns users of the cancer risk.

Beyond that, the Canadian Cancer Society is a key supporter of the “Dry January” trend through its “Go Dry” program (see the godry.ca website).

By now, you may be wondering why I am writing about this issue. After all, I normally write about politics at the local, provincial and federal levels.

The reason I wanted to discuss the alcohol-cancer link with you is because of the editorial in today’s paper, which discusses the critical shortage of doctors, nurses and other health-care professionals in Manitoba, and the latest consequence of that shortage.

Beyond today’s editorial, there have been several previous editorials that discuss a staffing crisis at CancerCare Manitoba and in many emergency departments throughout the province. Other articles have discussed the “hallway medicine” backlog of patients in hospitals, caused by a shortage of personal care home beds.

In addition to all of that commentary, there is the reality that an increasing number of people are getting (and dying from) cancer and other serious illnesses at younger ages than had previously been the case.

That has further increased the demand on our already-overburdened health-care system at a time when it is already experiencing a surge in patients due to our aging population.

What does all that tell us? It means that, until the staffing and personal care home issues in that system are resolved — something that could take many years — we shouldn’t be doing things that increase the likelihood that we will require that care because it may not be there for us when we need it.

In other words, we shouldn’t be looking for trouble when it comes to our health because it will eventually find each of us.

The best way to avoid a long wait in an overcrowded hospital emergency department is to not do things that increase the odds you will end up there.

I’m just stating the obvious here. Stop smoking, drinking booze and eating food that’s bad for you. Get some regular exercise, even if it’s just a daily walk, and breathe some fresh air. Get a reasonable amount of sleep each night and don’t engage in risky activities that put your health at risk. Get off the trampoline and ditch the skateboard.

I’m not your doctor, and I’m not your dad. I’m just giving you some advice that might result in you living longer, and maybe help you avoid a long and frustrating stay in a local ER. Whether you use it or not is up to you.