Alcohol blamed for rise in oral cancer rates
Cancer research UK has published figures showing an increase
of 51% in oral cancer rates in the last 20 years, which they attribute
to increased alcohol consumption.Alcohol and tobacco are the main causes
of oral cancer but the effects of smoking can take up to 30 years to
develop. Both the prevalence of smoking and the quantity of tobacco
smoked has been falling since the early 1970s. In contrast, the
consumption of alcohol has been rising.
Source: Oral cancer graph adapted from graph published by Cancer Research UK, here.
Source:
Tobacco graph taken from Day, M. (2006) Time and generational
trends in smoking among men and women in Great Britain, 1972–2004/05. Health Statistics Quarterly, 32, 35-43. Published by National Statistics.
Source:
Alcohol graph based on figures published by HMRC, Alcohol Factsheet, 2008.