(Undated)– New research from the University of Iowa shows that cancer linked to binge drinking is up in the state.
As part of the annual Iowa Cancer Registry, doctors are working to educate people about the dangers associated with excessive alcohol consumption. Iowa has the second highest and most rapidly growing cancer rates in the nation. Breast, prostate, lung and colo-rectal cancers will make up about half of Iowa’s projected 21-thousand new diagnoses in the state this year, but University of Iowa epidemiologist and Registry director Mary Charlton says researchers found an alarming increase in the link between binge drinking and cancer, and says studies show only 40-percent of people are even aware that alcohol and cancer are linked…
The Iowa Cancer Registry has been tracking cases, survival rates, and deaths from cancer in the state since 1973. Charlton adds Iowa has the fourth highest rate of binge drinking in the nation, and the key to addressing the link between alcohol and cancer is public awareness…
While cancer diagnoses are on the rise in the state, so too is number of people beating it. Charlton says 169-thousand people have survived the disease since the Registry first started tracking cases more than 50 years ago.
(Courtesy Iowa News Service)
