• 2/17/2006
  • Ithaca, NY
  • Karin Fleming
  • The Ithacan Online (www.ithaca.edu/ithacan)

Decades after Joe Jackson’s hit song “Cancer,” his statement that everything causes cancer continues to be reinforced. The latest substance under attack is one that 23 percent of college students consume in excess — alcohol.

A CNN study released Feb. 3 found a link between certain types of cancer and the intake of alcohol — the more alcohol consumed, the higher the risk for cancer.

The 23 percent of students who drink excessively, as defined by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, drink four drinks a night if they’re women and five if they’re men, and they drink three or more times in two weeks. This intake and frequency can be linked to cancers of the mouth, larynx, liver, breast, lung and pancreas.

“Cancer runs in my family, so hearing that drinking can increase the already high susceptibility I have for it is terrifying,” said junior Monica Marcenko.

Drinking alcohol causes damage to the cells of the upper- respiratory tract, which could initiate cancer after prolonged periods of abuse, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research. Also, those who drink alcohol are six times more likely to develop oral cancer than those who abstain, and about 75 percent of oral cancer patients drank alcohol in excess.

Women are also more prone to developing cancer than men, because of the different compositions of their bodies. Because women generally have more fat and less muscle tissue than men, alcohol — which can be diluted in water-holding muscle but not fat — remains in the bloodstream longer.

Louis Munch, associate professor of health promotion and physical education, said young people do not understand the risks of drinking.
“The nature of students is to look at the immediate rather than the long-term consequences,” Munch said.

Sophomore Brian Kahn echoed Munch’s impression of students.
“It’s such a long-term thing, and it’s not as talked about as cigarettes, so you don’t really think so much about the possible health repercussions down the road,” he said.

The exact correlation between most cancers and alcohol is still being researched. But heavy drinking can also cause a variety of other health problems, such as high blood pressure, glucose intolerance (a precursor to diabetes) and a host of psychiatric disorders. Other concerns include brain damage and accidental injury.

Alcohol also stunts brain development, which is still occurring during college. The frontal lobe, a part of the brain that controls inhibitions, is still developing until the early ’20s. Excessive drinking kills brain cells in this area, affecting planning, social interactions and inhibitions.

“Alcohol has profound effects on normal psychosocial development,” Newman said.

Statistics show students have fewer alcohol-related accidents and incidents of alcohol poisoning after their freshman year. As a freshman, senior Dan Dunbar said he would drink most weekends but has since stopped.

“I’ve noticed and known a lot of people that alcohol has pretty much ruined their lives, and, symbolically, I’d rather not use a substance that’s hurt so many people,” Dunbar said.