January 14, 2025 • 41 mins
The U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy is calling on Congress to require warning labels that inform consumers about the link between alcohol consumption and the risk of cancer. Other known cancer-causing products such as cigarettes have cancer warning labels and yet that appears to not deter smokers out there. Would warning labels on alcohol sway you from purchasing? Are we getting carried away with all the warning labels out there and are they even that preventative?
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's nice eyes.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Boston's news radio.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Hour and before coming up here on a Tuesday night,
excuse me, a little bit of a frog in my throat.
That's better. I think doing a lot of talking to night.
Everybody helped me out here, if you will. So. The
US Surgeon General has issued a report earlier this month.
Just getting around to talk about it. There's been a
(00:29):
lot going on, and the US Surgeon General, whose name
is doctor Vivek Murphy. Murphy is how his name is pronounced,
released a new Surgeon's General advisory on alcohol and cancer risk,
outlining a direct link between alcohol consumption and increased cancer risks.
(00:54):
Alcohol consumption is the third leading the third leading preventable
of cancer in the United States after tobacco and obesity,
increasing risk for at least seven types of cancer. While
scientific evidence for this connection has been growing over the
(01:15):
last forty years, less than half of Americans recognize it
as a risk factor. Reading now from a press release
from the US Department of Health and Human Services, the
Surgeon General's advisory includes a recommendation to increase awareness to
(01:36):
help minimize alcohol related cancer causes and deaths. I got
to be honest with you. I'm fairly smart. I did not.
I mean I thought about the risk of alcohol. And again,
this is any sort of alcohol. It could be beer,
it could be wine, it could be spirits, hard liquor.
(02:01):
I have thought about that is I think most of
us have thought about that. And you think about that
primarily in Okay, I got to watch out when I'm driving.
If I drive while I'm drunk, I can have big
problems that I can cause a lot of problems for
other people. So that's one thing you want to avoid.
(02:22):
I think most of us feel that way. Again, I
think that over time, during my lifetime, there's been an
adjustment made by people towards how much they drink and
under what circumstances. There have been a lot of, you know,
(02:43):
public service announcements friends don't let friends drive drive drunk,
and the public service announcements that you know, just you know,
you take the keys away from your friends if you're
a real friend. Okay, But cancer risk, I don't think
I was really thinking of that, and I don't know
(03:07):
that this shocks me either, says The direct link between
alcohol consumption and cancer risk is well established for at
least seven types of cancer, including cancers of the breast, colorectum, esophagus, liver, mouth, throat,
and voice box, regardless of the type of alcohol meaning beer, wine,
(03:30):
or spirits that's consumed for breast cancer specifically, this according
this is breast cancer. Sixteen point four percent of total
breast cancer cases are attributable to alcohol consumption. In the US.
There are about one hundred thousand alcohol related cancer cases
(03:51):
and twenty thousand alcohol related cancer deaths annually. I was
really not aware of this, to be honest with you,
I'm somebody who does enjoy cores, light, and I enjoy
red wine. Those are my drinks of choice. This is
(04:11):
a USA Today article in which the Surgeon General is quoted.
It's outlining a direct link, a direct link between drinking
alcohol and increased risk of developing seven types of cancel
the types I just read. Now, we're about six days
(04:33):
away from a change of government. It will be interesting
if Health and Human Services under Robert F. Kennedy Junior
emphasizes this as much as the current Surgeon General does.
So I just want to open it up. I guess
(04:53):
there's a in the article. There's a doctor Michael Siegel
of Tufts Universities of Medicine so he's a local guy,
he says. My sense is that he probably got fed
up and he basically has had enough of the alcohol
industry influence and is basically just saying that's it. We're
going to have signs decide this, not politics. Who we
come out with this definitive statement on equivocally saying that
(05:16):
alcohol is a carcinogen and that modern drinking is a
risk factor for cancer. Seagal set Now, I guess what
they want to do is they want to put some
sort of a warning label on alcohol. Doctor William Dietz,
who's a professor at the Milken Institute School of Public
(05:37):
Health at George Washington University, said Murphy is using his
position und our attention to a major health issue while
he can the way previous surgeon generals wave flags about
the dangers of tobacco use and obesity. Will this change
your attitude towards drinking? I suspect most of you it
will not. They are talking about trying to get some
(06:04):
sort of a warning label on alcohol. They do have
had warning labels on alcohol going back some period of time,
warning that women who were pregnant or expecting to be
pregnant could have a danger, So I just want to
open it up. Were you aware of this? I'll be
(06:28):
honest with you. I wasn't. I really wasn't. Is it
going to change my relationship with alcohol? Probably not, because
it doesn't say to me you got to give it up.
It says if you drink in some moderate form, it's
(06:54):
not going to substantially increase. I can give you the numbers,
but I don't. But numbers are tough on them on radio.
So feel free join the conversation. Six one, seven, two, five,
four ten thirty six one seven, nine three one, ten
thirty Were you aware of this relationship? As the Surgeon
General has outlined it? Will that change your drinking attitude?
(07:19):
Now again they're saying that, yeah, and I can go
through some of the numbers, but they're basically saying that
instead of having a ten percent increase in contracting some
form of these seven cancers, if you don't drink, you
might move it up to thirteen percent or fifteen percent.
(07:41):
And of course, the more you drink, the more frequently
you drink, the more you drink on any given day,
the higher the percentage has become. So should there be
a warning and were you aware of it and will
this change your attitude? Six seven ten thirty, six seven
nine thirty. My name's Dan Ray. Let's open up these
(08:04):
phone lines right after this. Very quick, and I mean it.
This is a quick break back in about a minute
and a half.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World,
Nice Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Yes, indeed we are in the Window World at night
side studios on a cold night here in New England.
But what do you expect, folks? It is, well, it is.
We're as close to the middle of January as you
could pop. Well, I guess Thursday technically is the middle
of January. Let me go to Jamie in Worcester. Jamie,
I was not aware of this link, were you.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
No.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
I work in a package store in Wista, So I
don't think it's gonna change anything. We got our boot
call workers, you know. They they're not gonna look at
the Waie Wolson. They gonna come in and they work
from like all these boot collar jobs, plumbers, coppins, whatever.
They're gonna come in and grab their stuff and they
(09:03):
don't care.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
About that, you know. Okay, So so that's your client.
Tell will it change? Do you imbibe yourself.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Yeah, I do. I drink light like you and I
drink I don't old palma iced teas once in a
while and then I have a couple of shots here
and there. But it's not gonna I'm not gonna change
my habits because I mean everything, it seems like everything
is bad for you. I mean, no matter what you do,
(09:35):
everything is bad for you.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Yeah, I mean there is a little enjoyment at the
end of the day having having a beer or a
glass of wine, no question about that. Uh, I don't
know what are we supposed to do? Just just eat
eat roots and berries and.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
You know, I don't know, right, you know, I mean
everything's bad for you. I'm like, I'm sick of it.
I'm like, I don't smoke. I never smoked a cigarette
in my.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Life, right they neither.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
I'm fine with that never and I never. I dabbled
a part early in my life, but I haven't done
that in years. So, like, you know, like I can't
have let me enjoy something, you know, alcohol, Let me
have a beer, you know, you know, let me have
beer or let me have a shot, you know. I mean,
(10:23):
why do I have to like sit there and go
oh no, I can't drink this because I'm gonna be
it's gonna kill me, you know. Yeah, I already get
my doctor every day.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
So no, I hear you, I hear you. I suspect
I bet you. I bet you were going to hear
from somebody tonight who will tell us that they were,
you know, a limited drinker, uh, and that they have
(10:54):
been diagnosed and that their doctors are now telling them. Hey, look,
the Search in General's report on smoking had a huge
impact on cigaretteses in this country. I'm not sure that
that this will have the same impact on the use
of alcohol. We'll see.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Oh, I don't think it's gonna affect us. I mean
I was listening to a report, say on your station
I'm listening to right now, and uh, the liquor stores
were like, well, it's not gonna We don't think this
is gonna cause any issue with us, you know, yeah,
put a label on it. People are still going to
buy their beer, you know, cigarettes, People still buy this.
(11:42):
They know it's cancer us, you know.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Yeah. Yeah, but Dad, I've told this before. My dad
was a heavy smoker. He was supposed to used to
smoke a couple of packs a day. Camel unfiltered or
lucky strikes unfiltered. And I hated cigarette smoke. And I've
never smoked cigarettes and my life, and I'm glad, I
(12:04):
you know, I just I thought it was even like
you know, when I was dating, if the woman you
were dating, it was like kissing an ash tree. I
remember that. I was like, no, I don't think so,
I don't.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
You know.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
I was a little I just didn't like cigarettes. I
I was. I was subjected to a lot of it
when I was a kid, and there was in those days.
You know, you're ten years old and your dad smoking.
You know, he was a World War Two veterans, So
I'm sure.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
Yeah, my dad smoked. And you know he quit eventually,
he would, he would. He just quit cold Turkey one
day and I remember him walking out quen on McDonald's
with two pixes melts and stuff and like he was
he couldn't and he went to like Russian guy that
(12:58):
supposedly killing the crabs on him or something like that.
I don't know, but yeah, how.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Long did your dad? Is your dad still alive? I hope.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
He just turned eighty?
Speaker 1 (13:11):
Yeah, okay, so so he's okay, he's getting he's he's
it's not like you said to me. You know, he
died when he was fifty three or something like that.
All right, Hey, no, no, Jamie, I appreciate you call.
Have you called mefore since your first time?
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (13:29):
By the way, no, I've called you before. I actually
I tried to call you today because my dog with
the psychologist. But I told you about my husky like
late light yellow night, about his oh yeah, yeah truck.
Yes yeah, And I tried to call you, but I
got your voicemail, so we came through that.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
But uh, give it a shot. You can stay on there.
Rob will give you my direct number if you If
you don't have it, okay, stay on the light, Robert
giving my direct Just stay right there, Robi, give you
the direct line. I gotta keep rolling here. We're going
to go next to Shawna in Melrose. Oh what happened?
(14:13):
How did what happened? There? Rob? Shawna in Melrose? Hey, Shawna?
How are you hello? Dan?
Speaker 3 (14:19):
How are you?
Speaker 5 (14:20):
Thank you for taking my call?
Speaker 1 (14:22):
You're more than welcome. What do you think about this
Surgeon General's report? I was not really aware of this relationship.
Speaker 5 (14:30):
I was not aware that it was the third leading
cause of cancer in the US.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
But I did know.
Speaker 5 (14:37):
I didn't know that it could cause cancer. I just
didn't know it was a third leading cause.
Speaker 6 (14:43):
But I do have a comment I'd like to make sure.
Speaker 5 (14:47):
Okay, okay, So I just want I mean, for me,
I don't drink at all at all. I just don't drink.
I never did drink, and it just never interested me.
But I do want to offer some hope to the
people that that that drink exceptively. There is a medication
(15:09):
called now trexone, now trexone that they can get prescribed,
and it's it's it will help them not want to drink.
They don't want to drink when they're on it. And
it's not like what that anterfuse that makes them throw
(15:30):
up when they when they do drink. It's not that
at all. It's that they just affects the pleasure center
in the brain and it makes them really not crave alcohol.
Speaker 4 (15:42):
At all, you know.
Speaker 5 (15:44):
So they have to stay on it kind of like
long term because if they stop doing it, they start
to crave alcohol again. But that's that's my comment.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
HM. So, so when you heard this, you thought yourself,
I guess you're glad that you that you're not a drinker.
Speaker 5 (16:07):
Yep, I am glad I'm not a drinker. I kind
of know. I really didn't think that. I just thought, well,
I just never had any desire to be a drinker.
And that's just the way it is. That's all it is.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
All right. Well, I appreciate you, appreciate you call. Sew
to keep listening to the night side and happy new Year, Thank.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
You very much.
Speaker 5 (16:30):
Happy New Year to you. And they listen to you
all the time.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Well, thank you. Have you called before? This is your
first time?
Speaker 5 (16:37):
No, you've falken to me before, and.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Yes, and I'd always like to hear from first time
calls because we can always give them a little round
of applause. But we'll talk to you soon. Okay, thank you,
Thanks very much. I have a great one. Good night.
Speaker 5 (16:52):
Bye.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
All right, let me go, let me go next. We're
gonna try David in San Francisco's first call of twenty
twenty five. All right, David, let's have it. Let's see
how long we go.
Speaker 4 (17:05):
Thanks, Happy New Year, Dan. You know I was brought
up in Saint Louis and Nheiser Bush was about three
or four blocks away from National Lead and at the time,
National Lead had no smokes scrubbers. They were just spewing
lead straight out into the air right next to the brewery.
(17:28):
So my dad, he pretty much refused to drink Budweiser
or anything related to it because of that. You don't
want to be drinking lead. Yeah, So he made his
own beer, he made his own wine. And my mother
was enough of your bird watcher and things like that
that she wanted to keep things clean, you know, organic.
(17:52):
Rachel Carson was a big deal, and so he warned me,
you know, about trying to eat bad food, and if
you're gonna start drinking, don't drink Mad Dog twenty twenty
because Mogan David twenty twenty was had additives in it. Chemicals.
It would not only get you drunker, but they would
(18:14):
they would give you a higher addiction and they would
give you seizures. And anybody that you might know that
ever got hooked on Mad Dog twenty twenty knew that
you would get that products.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
By the way, is that product still around? I have
never heard of that one before, But is that is
that still around?
Speaker 4 (18:34):
As far as you know, Well, you've heard of Mogen
David wine, right.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
I have is that what you refer to as mad Dog. Okay,
I was unaware of the nickname.
Speaker 4 (18:47):
Yeah, MD twenty twenty is Mogan David twenty twenty. And
it's got a it's fortified, is what they call it.
But it's actually got chemicals in it. It'll make you.
And so when you was talking about cancer, you know,
it's surprising to me to hear that liquor can cause cancer.
But when I hear about the additives. You know, ripple
(19:12):
wine was big when I was a kid, and that
had additives in that Pagan pink was supposed to be
something close to formaldehyde I think was in it. And
so the idea of cheap liquor is a real danger.
And then what's even worse up here in California. You
(19:33):
remember what three or four years ago, they had a
big fire in Santa Rosa. Now that's about ten miles
away from the wine growing country, and all of these
houses got burned up. You know, the smoke and the
toxic smoke that came out of that. Burned roofs, burned houses,
burned cars, all this sort of stuff landed in the
(19:56):
wine growing country, and so their crops may be in
jeopardy for years to come until they figure some way
to get the heavy minerals or the heavy metals out,
or you know, some of the other.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
I don't know. I was in Napa Valley a year
or so ago, and a lot of the wineries seemed
to be in pretty good shape. I mean, I don't
know what was in the ground or anything like that,
because I was unfamiliar with the Santa Rosa fire, but
they seem to be doing very well. So were you
aware of the relationship before the Surgeon General report? I
(20:32):
was not aware, To be honest with.
Speaker 7 (20:33):
You, no, I wasn't.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
But it does make sense if it has to do
with either additives or unregistered chemicals. There are certain of
these liquors that will add things to get you addicted
in a heavier way. And that's the Mad Dog twenty
twenty and the Ripple.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Yeah. Well again, as they say, yeah, I did not
know what, but it didn't know it by that name.
Interesting observations. David. We had a great call. Hopefully this
will be the first of many. Thank you much.
Speaker 4 (21:08):
Take care you two.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
First time David didn't end up in the water. That's
pretty good. Uh, let's keep rolling. He got the news
coming up six. I got some open line six one,
seven thirty, triple eight thirty. Uh, this is pretty serious stuff,
Surgeon General says. This is more than just pregnant women,
This is people of all ages. The more you drink,
(21:37):
the more likely that you're going to be potentially exposed
to seven cancers. Now that doesn't mean that everyone who
drinks gets those cancers. It doesn't mean that everyone who
doesn't drink doesn't get those cancers. But I was unaware
of this, and you got to take it seriously when
the Surgeon General comes out of it, because I assume
(21:58):
there's there is supporting and I've read some of the reports.
They did some tests on mice and this is how
they came to the conclusions. But love to hear from you.
I got a couple of open lines one at six
one seven, two, five four ten thirty and one at
six one seven, nine, three, one ten thirty. Join the conversation.
Be right back on Nightside.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
You're on Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ Boston's
news radio.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
So we're talking about Surgeon General's report and it's suggesting
that there is a direct link between seven types of
cancer and the use of alcohol and alcohol covering both beer.
Well all, why spirits beer and wine? Interesting? Interesting, I
(22:48):
was unaware of it. Let's go to Barry and framing him.
So far, no one has said to me, Yeah, they
were aware of this before this report. Hi, Barry, how
are you good?
Speaker 7 (22:57):
Damn?
Speaker 8 (22:57):
Thank you.
Speaker 7 (22:58):
So I'm a little bit confused about this, and I
don't doubt what they're saying. But I had been under
the impression that there were some cardiovascular benefits to low
alcohol consumption. Yes, and I think that's still valid. I
just looked up online from the NIH the National Library
(23:18):
of Medicine had a paper from twenty nineteen that went
through all these varied studies showing the cardiovascular benefits of
low consumption of alcohol.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
Yes, to your heart and also lessen the chances of
a heart attack or a stroke.
Speaker 8 (23:38):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 7 (23:40):
So is this one of the things. Well, we can
solve one problem, but perhaps enhance another one.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
So well, First of all, it's interesting that no one
else had little so far, no one else had been
aware of this because apparently it had been bandied about
a little bit. But what the Surgeon General is saying
is that alcohol is a well established preventable cause of cancer,
(24:09):
responsible about one hundred thousand cases of cancer and twenty
thousand cancer deaths annually, greater than the thirteen thousand, five
hundred alcohol associated traffic crash fatalities. Interesting, he goes on
to say, yet the majority of Americans are unaware of this,
which is what my audience is confirming for us tonight.
(24:29):
They went on and this to list the cancers, which
are breast cancer, coorectum, esophagus, liver, mouth, oral cancer, throat,
and voice box.
Speaker 7 (24:47):
I wonder what other issues people have that developed these cancers?
Is that just the alcohol itself? And I would assume
the amount that you consume would have a significant yes
effect of this. So I don't think it's all is
cut and dried, because I could basically say, you breathe
(25:09):
the ear, how much cancer do you get from the
air we brieve?
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Well, let me give you any Let me give you
some statistics here. Statistics are tough on radio, but let's
let's give it a shot. Okay. It said for men,
the absolute risk of developing an alcohol related cancer increases
from about ten percent ten out of every one hundred
individuals for those who consume less than one drink a
(25:35):
week to eleven point four percent if you have a
drink every day, and it rises to thirteen percent if
you have two drinks a day on average. I don't
know how many people have two drinks a day, but
I guess you could. So you're in your average, your
your I guess, the chances that you're that you could
(26:01):
develop one of these forms of cancer goes from ten percent.
So if you don't drink at all, you can't your
chance of getting one of these cancers is ten percent.
If you do one drink a week, it goes up
one point four percent to eleven point four percent, so
it goes up incrementally. Now, obviously there are other issues
(26:23):
that are related. I mean clearly, you know liver cancer
is one that you've always thought about it.
Speaker 7 (26:33):
So I bring up the question if in doing this
a comparison like this, so if one looked at cardiovascular disease,
what is the percentage of people that develop cardiovascular disease
that don't have any alcohol versus someone that has a
drink a week.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
I don't have those that statistics, however, from this article
that I have in front of me, which is out
of the New York Times, let me read this to
you because it's right on point. Most recently, a scientific
review of the research on moderate drinking, carried out under
the auspices of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine,
(27:14):
was commissioned by Congress. That analysis found a link between
alcohol consumption and a slight increase in breast cancer, but
no clear link to the other cancers. The report also
revived the theory that moderate drinking, your point, is linked
to fewer heart attack and stroke debts and fewer debts
(27:34):
overall compared with never drinking. So then you have the
World Health Organization which says the World Health Organization says
there's no safe limit for alcohol consumption. So you got
these conflicting And here's the thing that's really interesting, at
least for me. It says to date, only South Korea
(27:55):
has a label warning about liver cancer, though manufacturers can
choose alternative labels that don't mention cancer. Ireland, the home
of my forebears who have been known to have a
drink or two, is currently slated to introduce labels that
say there is a direct link between alcohol and fatal
cancers in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 7 (28:16):
So the bottom line is it's the same problem with
Basically everything depends on where to get your information from
as to which is valid.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Well, it is, But when the Surgeon General of the
United States of America speaks, you got to listen to it. Okay,
right now, you don't have to agree with it. We've
had labels on bottles and cans of alcoholic beverages about
drinking while pregnant and before driving and operating other discinity
for a long time. But they're saying that they may
(28:49):
now put a label on you know, beer and wine
and spirits.
Speaker 7 (28:56):
Well, I hate to make this analogy, but when you
talk about the surians in general, well then I can
look at the surgeon General of Florida who was against
the COVID vaccine masking. So yeah, you take it for
what it's worth.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
Well, yeah, there were there were some people around the country, Uh,
medical people. There's never unanimity within the medical community. I
don't think, I mean, maybe on some things.
Speaker 7 (29:26):
But uh yeah, the bottom is I think that I mean,
there's just my opinion. I think that it's important to
know how much someone drinks as to whether there's a
benefit or a detriment to it.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Of course, there's no question about that. I think I
think you're I don't want to accuse you of stating
the obvious, but yeah, I think you're absolutely right. I mean,
if if you're pounding down seven or eight drinks at night,
if you have to make I think it's a yeah,
it's I think it's affecting you. Wait, that problem is
adversely infecting your cardiovascular system. But again we've always learned,
(30:04):
you know, a glass of red wine. I'm a red
wine and a course like guy. So I think I'm okay, Yeah,
I think so, Okay, thank you, Thank you very much, Barry,
appreciate you taking the time. Happy New Year. Let me go,
Let me go next to Penny. Isn't low Penny. I'm
going to get you in here before the break? Go ahead, Penny, Hello, Hi,
(30:26):
how are you? Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Penny?
Speaker 8 (30:34):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (30:35):
Okay, okay, what's up? Welcome to night saga? Right ahead?
What's your thought on this?
Speaker 6 (30:41):
So it's not surprising to me. So for the last
seven to ten years as a gen xer, as people
are getting cancer younger and younger. I have quite a
few friends who have had cancer and they're oncologists has
had them stop drinking. So alcohol, and probably people don't
(31:05):
know this. So alcohol causes inflammation in your body. It
causes joint pain, it could exacerbate immuno suppress of disease.
And when you have constant chronic inflammation in your body,
you know, they're finding a lot of correlations between your
gut health.
Speaker 4 (31:27):
This is why.
Speaker 6 (31:28):
It affects the lining of the esophagus, the liver, the gut,
bacteria in your stomach. So chronic inflammation leads to disease,
which leads to cancer. So I had an ex who
is alcoholic. He actually had an esophageal rupture. You know,
(31:49):
he had liver disease which would turn into liver cancer eventually.
But the oncologists are telling people to stop drinking who
have had cancer.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
Interesting, do you sound to me like you may have
a And if if I'm making an assumption that's wrong here,
please tell me. Do you have a medical background?
Speaker 6 (32:11):
Funny enough, I am a veterinary technician that does anesthesia.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
So okay, well, this that's what look iderstand. That's a
medical background, and thank you for what you do as
a veterinarian. You said that you had a former was
it a boyfriend? That that so that you you have
seen this up close and personal.
Speaker 6 (32:33):
Yes, yes, okay, and most of my friends, unfortunately have
had breast cancer. I've had two friends that have breast cancer.
They have stopped drinking. So between him my friends who
have gotten cancer, I have also stopped drinking alcohol.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
Is also let me ask you, I just when people
throw around gen X and stuff like that, it always
confuses me. How old are you?
Speaker 6 (32:58):
If I could ask, I am forty seven?
Speaker 1 (33:03):
Okay, so you're forty seven? And how long ago did
you stop drinking?
Speaker 6 (33:09):
About ten years ago?
Speaker 1 (33:12):
That's that's a significant period of time. Do you feel
that by stops and I suspect you were not a
big drinker. I suspect that, you know, you probably did
things in moderation. Do you feel better as a result?
Has it? Has it made you absolutely better? Have been
(33:35):
more energy? Because that's what a lot of people say.
Speaker 6 (33:38):
Yeah. Absolutely, And one of those reasons is because alcohol
also turns directly to sugar, which is carbohydrates, the sugar
you know, up and down is kind of what wakes
people up at night after drinking.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (33:55):
I was on a very low carb diet, which also
had me stopping alcohol so that I could lose weight.
And it really lowered all the inflammation in my body
and a lot of the issues that I was health
issues that I was having went away. So you a
(34:15):
source of chronic inflammation, you know, good for you.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
And you were aware of this before the surge of
General's report, Yes, and.
Speaker 6 (34:26):
I am absolutely not surprised. And you know, medicine, you know,
as the years go by, we learn things, we do studies,
we learn things. Unfortunately, we're learning that people are getting
cancer at younger ages, especially this whole gen X generation
has the most cancer at a younger age than any
(34:49):
of the generations. And you know, they're trying to figure
out why why that's happening.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
Are their theories that you might share with us or.
Speaker 6 (35:01):
No, I've you know, I haven't researched too much into that. Okay, ye,
you know, seeing all my friends getting cancer at a
very very you know what I consider young age.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
Yep, that is a young age.
Speaker 6 (35:20):
And it is scary, you know. So I think they're
trying to figure all that out.
Speaker 1 (35:27):
And I do know that they have lowered the age
for you know, certain cancer screening tests that used to
be fifty and now down to forty five or forty
both in terms of both men and women. Penny, thanks
very much. Have you called before since your first time?
Speaker 6 (35:44):
I called one other time. I think it was about
the police union. And I'm not making enough money or
having housing, so.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
They'll do me a favorite. Don't be a stranger. Come
on back sooner than the last one. Okay, thanks very much,
Happy New Year.
Speaker 6 (35:56):
All right, thanks bye, thank you, have a great night.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Quick break here, get a couple more and if you'd
like six one, seven, two, five, four ten thirty six, one, seven, nine,
ten thirty. My names Dan Y talking about a surgeon
General's report that links drinking of any sort alcohol alcohol,
drinking alcohol, wine, beer spirits with cancer, specifically seven types
of cancer. I was unaware of it. Don't know what's
(36:21):
going to change my behavior, but I'd love to know
if you were aware of it, and if you were not,
would have changed your behavior. We'll be back on Nightside.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
Now, back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
nights Side Studios on WBZ, the news Radio.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
Well, let's go to Rick and Bill Rica. Rick, were
you aware of this report?
Speaker 8 (36:43):
No, I wasn't aware of it at all. I mean
we always think of, you know, cirrhosis of the liver,
and maybe you can consider you could consider someone that's
in bad shape if they drink too much. It could
affect on the parts of the body. Sure, I say
moderation all the way, but go ahead, No, I agree
with you this.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
There's certainly something to think about. But I don't consider
myself to be in that in that category. But obviously,
what they're saying is you're you increase the chances, even
if it's by a percentage point or two or three, uh,
if you imbibe more regularly or if you imbibe uh,
(37:27):
you know, you know a little more heavily.
Speaker 8 (37:30):
Let me put it like that, you know, Yeah, what
you gave the figures a few minutes ago, what what
was the percentage? It was ten percent if you didn't
certain cancers. And then what did it go up to
with moderate use arouncohol like what I drink a day,
it kicked it up I think to eleven point four percent.
Speaker 1 (37:50):
Now again, those are those are precise figures. I don't
know that that applies to everybody, but there that's what
they're uh, their their analysis says. And the difference between
a ten percent chance and UH and eleven point four
percent exactly that's going without those who you know, have
(38:11):
you know, have a drink and enjoy a glass of
wine or or or a beer at the ball.
Speaker 8 (38:17):
Game exactly, and even if it's too it takes it
up another point of do I'm having a beer right
now enjoying this conversation. I am enjoying my beer, uhcause
you know, I came back from my band practice, did
my singing. Because I know that it can dry you out.
In general, you gotta you gotta watch it. You go
to the gym, you take care of business. It benefits you,
(38:40):
if anything, and you we all deserve to relax a
little bit. Sure it might it might be a little detrimental,
but I think it's a lot of bloney. I mean
it's sure. I'm sure it's a true report. But you
just gotta are you gotta live life and moderately and
appreciate things. Are you going to be afraid of everything?
Speaker 3 (38:56):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
I think when the old adage that moderation and everything
and everything in moderation, I think that I think that
makes sense. I'm I'm not a druggie. I don't think
there's a there's a moderation in drugs. I don't think
that you could say, oh, I only use LSD a
couple of times a week, or I only use FENTODYL
(39:17):
on weekends. I mean, that's crazy. But I think beer's
been around a long time. Wine's been around a long time.
Speaker 8 (39:25):
You know, wine what red Wind's my vice. I won't
drink it alone. I'm careful about it because I love
it so much, So I'll have it with lens and
when I'm safe, you know, just just easy. I'm not driving,
you know, you know that type of thing. But but exactly,
and cigarettes had had six thousand chemical Well maybe back
when your dad was smoking there were fewer, obviously, probably
(39:46):
probably far fewer, but today's six thousand camera that's gonna
be a more harmful. If they make freer the proper
way and don't add all the crap, it can't be
that detrimental. I mean, Jesus drank wine.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
Well you the wars out of my mouth. I was
gonna say, mine's been around for at least two thousand
years and more, so we know that. Hey, I really
enjoyed it. How was band practiced tonight? Good? I hope, yeah?
Speaker 8 (40:12):
Good good. Just you know, we're trying to get together
for a show and we're kind of we're behind schedule.
Speaker 1 (40:18):
Rick, let me know, do me a favorite, let me know,
and we'll give you when you when you figure it out,
we'll give you more. I'd love to give plugs to
folks who are are in the music industry and listen
to Nightside, who will give you a good plug a
couple of weeks in advance. Maybe we'll be able to
get some listeners up there.
Speaker 8 (40:36):
Okay, I appreciate this. One's in New Hampshire. Like wolfbaro,
thank you.
Speaker 1 (40:43):
Not a problem. People we watch signals a lot stronger
than we get way past Wolf bro. Hey, I got
I'm getting way past time here, so I gotta let
you on.
Speaker 4 (40:51):
Okay, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (40:52):
Thanks Thanks Rick, talk soon. All right, we're done for
the night. I will tell you that tomorrow night President
Biden will start Nightside with his address to the Nation
from the Oval Office, and then we will pick it
up right after he concludes, and we will have your
reaction to his speech and to his four years as president.
My name's Dan Ray. Thanks to Rob, thanks to Marita.
All dogs are cats, All pets go to heaven. That's
(41:14):
my pal Charlie Rays, who passed fifteen years ago in February.
That's where all your pets are who were passed. They
loved you and you love them. I do believe you'll
see them again, see again in more night on nightside,
every on I'll be on Nightside with Dan Ray on
Facebook in a couple of minutes
It's nice eyes.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Boston's news radio.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Hour and before coming up here on a Tuesday night,
excuse me, a little bit of a frog in my throat.
That's better. I think doing a lot of talking to night.
Everybody helped me out here, if you will. So. The
US Surgeon General has issued a report earlier this month.
Just getting around to talk about it. There's been a
(00:29):
lot going on, and the US Surgeon General, whose name
is doctor Vivek Murphy. Murphy is how his name is pronounced,
released a new Surgeon's General advisory on alcohol and cancer risk,
outlining a direct link between alcohol consumption and increased cancer risks.
(00:54):
Alcohol consumption is the third leading the third leading preventable
of cancer in the United States after tobacco and obesity,
increasing risk for at least seven types of cancer. While
scientific evidence for this connection has been growing over the
(01:15):
last forty years, less than half of Americans recognize it
as a risk factor. Reading now from a press release
from the US Department of Health and Human Services, the
Surgeon General's advisory includes a recommendation to increase awareness to
(01:36):
help minimize alcohol related cancer causes and deaths. I got
to be honest with you. I'm fairly smart. I did not.
I mean I thought about the risk of alcohol. And again,
this is any sort of alcohol. It could be beer,
it could be wine, it could be spirits, hard liquor.
(02:01):
I have thought about that is I think most of
us have thought about that. And you think about that
primarily in Okay, I got to watch out when I'm driving.
If I drive while I'm drunk, I can have big
problems that I can cause a lot of problems for
other people. So that's one thing you want to avoid.
(02:22):
I think most of us feel that way. Again, I
think that over time, during my lifetime, there's been an
adjustment made by people towards how much they drink and
under what circumstances. There have been a lot of, you know,
(02:43):
public service announcements friends don't let friends drive drive drunk,
and the public service announcements that you know, just you know,
you take the keys away from your friends if you're
a real friend. Okay, But cancer risk, I don't think
I was really thinking of that, and I don't know
(03:07):
that this shocks me either, says The direct link between
alcohol consumption and cancer risk is well established for at
least seven types of cancer, including cancers of the breast, colorectum, esophagus, liver, mouth, throat,
and voice box, regardless of the type of alcohol meaning beer, wine,
(03:30):
or spirits that's consumed for breast cancer specifically, this according
this is breast cancer. Sixteen point four percent of total
breast cancer cases are attributable to alcohol consumption. In the US.
There are about one hundred thousand alcohol related cancer cases
(03:51):
and twenty thousand alcohol related cancer deaths annually. I was
really not aware of this, to be honest with you,
I'm somebody who does enjoy cores, light, and I enjoy
red wine. Those are my drinks of choice. This is
(04:11):
a USA Today article in which the Surgeon General is quoted.
It's outlining a direct link, a direct link between drinking
alcohol and increased risk of developing seven types of cancel
the types I just read. Now, we're about six days
(04:33):
away from a change of government. It will be interesting
if Health and Human Services under Robert F. Kennedy Junior
emphasizes this as much as the current Surgeon General does.
So I just want to open it up. I guess
(04:53):
there's a in the article. There's a doctor Michael Siegel
of Tufts Universities of Medicine so he's a local guy,
he says. My sense is that he probably got fed
up and he basically has had enough of the alcohol
industry influence and is basically just saying that's it. We're
going to have signs decide this, not politics. Who we
come out with this definitive statement on equivocally saying that
(05:16):
alcohol is a carcinogen and that modern drinking is a
risk factor for cancer. Seagal set Now, I guess what
they want to do is they want to put some
sort of a warning label on alcohol. Doctor William Dietz,
who's a professor at the Milken Institute School of Public
(05:37):
Health at George Washington University, said Murphy is using his
position und our attention to a major health issue while
he can the way previous surgeon generals wave flags about
the dangers of tobacco use and obesity. Will this change
your attitude towards drinking? I suspect most of you it
will not. They are talking about trying to get some
(06:04):
sort of a warning label on alcohol. They do have
had warning labels on alcohol going back some period of time,
warning that women who were pregnant or expecting to be
pregnant could have a danger, So I just want to
open it up. Were you aware of this? I'll be
(06:28):
honest with you. I wasn't. I really wasn't. Is it
going to change my relationship with alcohol? Probably not, because
it doesn't say to me you got to give it up.
It says if you drink in some moderate form, it's
(06:54):
not going to substantially increase. I can give you the numbers,
but I don't. But numbers are tough on them on radio.
So feel free join the conversation. Six one, seven, two, five,
four ten thirty six one seven, nine three one, ten
thirty Were you aware of this relationship? As the Surgeon
General has outlined it? Will that change your drinking attitude?
(07:19):
Now again they're saying that, yeah, and I can go
through some of the numbers, but they're basically saying that
instead of having a ten percent increase in contracting some
form of these seven cancers, if you don't drink, you
might move it up to thirteen percent or fifteen percent.
(07:41):
And of course, the more you drink, the more frequently
you drink, the more you drink on any given day,
the higher the percentage has become. So should there be
a warning and were you aware of it and will
this change your attitude? Six seven ten thirty, six seven
nine thirty. My name's Dan Ray. Let's open up these
(08:04):
phone lines right after this. Very quick, and I mean it.
This is a quick break back in about a minute
and a half.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World,
Nice Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Yes, indeed we are in the Window World at night
side studios on a cold night here in New England.
But what do you expect, folks? It is, well, it is.
We're as close to the middle of January as you
could pop. Well, I guess Thursday technically is the middle
of January. Let me go to Jamie in Worcester. Jamie,
I was not aware of this link, were you.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
No.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
I work in a package store in Wista, So I
don't think it's gonna change anything. We got our boot
call workers, you know. They they're not gonna look at
the Waie Wolson. They gonna come in and they work
from like all these boot collar jobs, plumbers, coppins, whatever.
They're gonna come in and grab their stuff and they
(09:03):
don't care.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
About that, you know. Okay, So so that's your client.
Tell will it change? Do you imbibe yourself.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Yeah, I do. I drink light like you and I
drink I don't old palma iced teas once in a
while and then I have a couple of shots here
and there. But it's not gonna I'm not gonna change
my habits because I mean everything, it seems like everything
is bad for you. I mean, no matter what you do,
(09:35):
everything is bad for you.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Yeah, I mean there is a little enjoyment at the
end of the day having having a beer or a
glass of wine, no question about that. Uh, I don't
know what are we supposed to do? Just just eat
eat roots and berries and.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
You know, I don't know, right, you know, I mean
everything's bad for you. I'm like, I'm sick of it.
I'm like, I don't smoke. I never smoked a cigarette
in my.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Life, right they neither.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
I'm fine with that never and I never. I dabbled
a part early in my life, but I haven't done
that in years. So, like, you know, like I can't
have let me enjoy something, you know, alcohol, Let me
have a beer, you know, you know, let me have
beer or let me have a shot, you know. I mean,
(10:23):
why do I have to like sit there and go
oh no, I can't drink this because I'm gonna be
it's gonna kill me, you know. Yeah, I already get
my doctor every day.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
So no, I hear you, I hear you. I suspect
I bet you. I bet you were going to hear
from somebody tonight who will tell us that they were,
you know, a limited drinker, uh, and that they have
(10:54):
been diagnosed and that their doctors are now telling them. Hey, look,
the Search in General's report on smoking had a huge
impact on cigaretteses in this country. I'm not sure that
that this will have the same impact on the use
of alcohol. We'll see.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Oh, I don't think it's gonna affect us. I mean
I was listening to a report, say on your station
I'm listening to right now, and uh, the liquor stores
were like, well, it's not gonna We don't think this
is gonna cause any issue with us, you know, yeah,
put a label on it. People are still going to
buy their beer, you know, cigarettes, People still buy this.
(11:42):
They know it's cancer us, you know.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Yeah. Yeah, but Dad, I've told this before. My dad
was a heavy smoker. He was supposed to used to
smoke a couple of packs a day. Camel unfiltered or
lucky strikes unfiltered. And I hated cigarette smoke. And I've
never smoked cigarettes and my life, and I'm glad, I
(12:04):
you know, I just I thought it was even like
you know, when I was dating, if the woman you
were dating, it was like kissing an ash tree. I
remember that. I was like, no, I don't think so,
I don't.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
You know.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
I was a little I just didn't like cigarettes. I
I was. I was subjected to a lot of it
when I was a kid, and there was in those days.
You know, you're ten years old and your dad smoking.
You know, he was a World War Two veterans, So
I'm sure.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
Yeah, my dad smoked. And you know he quit eventually,
he would, he would. He just quit cold Turkey one
day and I remember him walking out quen on McDonald's
with two pixes melts and stuff and like he was
he couldn't and he went to like Russian guy that
(12:58):
supposedly killing the crabs on him or something like that.
I don't know, but yeah, how.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Long did your dad? Is your dad still alive? I hope.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
He just turned eighty?
Speaker 1 (13:11):
Yeah, okay, so so he's okay, he's getting he's he's
it's not like you said to me. You know, he
died when he was fifty three or something like that.
All right, Hey, no, no, Jamie, I appreciate you call.
Have you called mefore since your first time?
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (13:29):
By the way, no, I've called you before. I actually
I tried to call you today because my dog with
the psychologist. But I told you about my husky like
late light yellow night, about his oh yeah, yeah truck.
Yes yeah, And I tried to call you, but I
got your voicemail, so we came through that.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
But uh, give it a shot. You can stay on there.
Rob will give you my direct number if you If
you don't have it, okay, stay on the light, Robert
giving my direct Just stay right there, Robi, give you
the direct line. I gotta keep rolling here. We're going
to go next to Shawna in Melrose. Oh what happened?
(14:13):
How did what happened? There? Rob? Shawna in Melrose? Hey, Shawna?
How are you hello? Dan?
Speaker 3 (14:19):
How are you?
Speaker 5 (14:20):
Thank you for taking my call?
Speaker 1 (14:22):
You're more than welcome. What do you think about this
Surgeon General's report? I was not really aware of this relationship.
Speaker 5 (14:30):
I was not aware that it was the third leading
cause of cancer in the US.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
But I did know.
Speaker 5 (14:37):
I didn't know that it could cause cancer. I just
didn't know it was a third leading cause.
Speaker 6 (14:43):
But I do have a comment I'd like to make sure.
Speaker 5 (14:47):
Okay, okay, So I just want I mean, for me,
I don't drink at all at all. I just don't drink.
I never did drink, and it just never interested me.
But I do want to offer some hope to the
people that that that drink exceptively. There is a medication
(15:09):
called now trexone, now trexone that they can get prescribed,
and it's it's it will help them not want to drink.
They don't want to drink when they're on it. And
it's not like what that anterfuse that makes them throw
(15:30):
up when they when they do drink. It's not that
at all. It's that they just affects the pleasure center
in the brain and it makes them really not crave alcohol.
Speaker 4 (15:42):
At all, you know.
Speaker 5 (15:44):
So they have to stay on it kind of like
long term because if they stop doing it, they start
to crave alcohol again. But that's that's my comment.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
HM. So, so when you heard this, you thought yourself,
I guess you're glad that you that you're not a drinker.
Speaker 5 (16:07):
Yep, I am glad I'm not a drinker. I kind
of know. I really didn't think that. I just thought, well,
I just never had any desire to be a drinker.
And that's just the way it is. That's all it is.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
All right. Well, I appreciate you, appreciate you call. Sew
to keep listening to the night side and happy new Year, Thank.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
You very much.
Speaker 5 (16:30):
Happy New Year to you. And they listen to you
all the time.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Well, thank you. Have you called before? This is your
first time?
Speaker 5 (16:37):
No, you've falken to me before, and.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Yes, and I'd always like to hear from first time
calls because we can always give them a little round
of applause. But we'll talk to you soon. Okay, thank you,
Thanks very much. I have a great one. Good night.
Speaker 5 (16:52):
Bye.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
All right, let me go, let me go next. We're
gonna try David in San Francisco's first call of twenty
twenty five. All right, David, let's have it. Let's see
how long we go.
Speaker 4 (17:05):
Thanks, Happy New Year, Dan. You know I was brought
up in Saint Louis and Nheiser Bush was about three
or four blocks away from National Lead and at the time,
National Lead had no smokes scrubbers. They were just spewing
lead straight out into the air right next to the brewery.
(17:28):
So my dad, he pretty much refused to drink Budweiser
or anything related to it because of that. You don't
want to be drinking lead. Yeah, So he made his
own beer, he made his own wine. And my mother
was enough of your bird watcher and things like that
that she wanted to keep things clean, you know, organic.
(17:52):
Rachel Carson was a big deal, and so he warned me,
you know, about trying to eat bad food, and if
you're gonna start drinking, don't drink Mad Dog twenty twenty
because Mogan David twenty twenty was had additives in it. Chemicals.
It would not only get you drunker, but they would
(18:14):
they would give you a higher addiction and they would
give you seizures. And anybody that you might know that
ever got hooked on Mad Dog twenty twenty knew that
you would get that products.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
By the way, is that product still around? I have
never heard of that one before, But is that is
that still around?
Speaker 4 (18:34):
As far as you know, Well, you've heard of Mogen
David wine, right.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
I have is that what you refer to as mad Dog. Okay,
I was unaware of the nickname.
Speaker 4 (18:47):
Yeah, MD twenty twenty is Mogan David twenty twenty. And
it's got a it's fortified, is what they call it.
But it's actually got chemicals in it. It'll make you.
And so when you was talking about cancer, you know,
it's surprising to me to hear that liquor can cause cancer.
But when I hear about the additives. You know, ripple
(19:12):
wine was big when I was a kid, and that
had additives in that Pagan pink was supposed to be
something close to formaldehyde I think was in it. And
so the idea of cheap liquor is a real danger.
And then what's even worse up here in California. You
(19:33):
remember what three or four years ago, they had a
big fire in Santa Rosa. Now that's about ten miles
away from the wine growing country, and all of these
houses got burned up. You know, the smoke and the
toxic smoke that came out of that. Burned roofs, burned houses,
burned cars, all this sort of stuff landed in the
(19:56):
wine growing country, and so their crops may be in
jeopardy for years to come until they figure some way
to get the heavy minerals or the heavy metals out,
or you know, some of the other.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
I don't know. I was in Napa Valley a year
or so ago, and a lot of the wineries seemed
to be in pretty good shape. I mean, I don't
know what was in the ground or anything like that,
because I was unfamiliar with the Santa Rosa fire, but
they seem to be doing very well. So were you
aware of the relationship before the Surgeon General report? I
(20:32):
was not aware, To be honest with.
Speaker 7 (20:33):
You, no, I wasn't.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
But it does make sense if it has to do
with either additives or unregistered chemicals. There are certain of
these liquors that will add things to get you addicted
in a heavier way. And that's the Mad Dog twenty
twenty and the Ripple.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Yeah. Well again, as they say, yeah, I did not
know what, but it didn't know it by that name.
Interesting observations. David. We had a great call. Hopefully this
will be the first of many. Thank you much.
Speaker 4 (21:08):
Take care you two.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
First time David didn't end up in the water. That's
pretty good. Uh, let's keep rolling. He got the news
coming up six. I got some open line six one,
seven thirty, triple eight thirty. Uh, this is pretty serious stuff,
Surgeon General says. This is more than just pregnant women,
This is people of all ages. The more you drink,
(21:37):
the more likely that you're going to be potentially exposed
to seven cancers. Now that doesn't mean that everyone who
drinks gets those cancers. It doesn't mean that everyone who
doesn't drink doesn't get those cancers. But I was unaware
of this, and you got to take it seriously when
the Surgeon General comes out of it, because I assume
(21:58):
there's there is supporting and I've read some of the reports.
They did some tests on mice and this is how
they came to the conclusions. But love to hear from you.
I got a couple of open lines one at six
one seven, two, five four ten thirty and one at
six one seven, nine, three, one ten thirty. Join the conversation.
Be right back on Nightside.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
You're on Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ Boston's
news radio.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
So we're talking about Surgeon General's report and it's suggesting
that there is a direct link between seven types of
cancer and the use of alcohol and alcohol covering both beer.
Well all, why spirits beer and wine? Interesting? Interesting, I
(22:48):
was unaware of it. Let's go to Barry and framing him.
So far, no one has said to me, Yeah, they
were aware of this before this report. Hi, Barry, how
are you good?
Speaker 7 (22:57):
Damn?
Speaker 8 (22:57):
Thank you.
Speaker 7 (22:58):
So I'm a little bit confused about this, and I
don't doubt what they're saying. But I had been under
the impression that there were some cardiovascular benefits to low
alcohol consumption. Yes, and I think that's still valid. I
just looked up online from the NIH the National Library
(23:18):
of Medicine had a paper from twenty nineteen that went
through all these varied studies showing the cardiovascular benefits of
low consumption of alcohol.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
Yes, to your heart and also lessen the chances of
a heart attack or a stroke.
Speaker 8 (23:38):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 7 (23:40):
So is this one of the things. Well, we can
solve one problem, but perhaps enhance another one.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
So well, First of all, it's interesting that no one
else had little so far, no one else had been
aware of this because apparently it had been bandied about
a little bit. But what the Surgeon General is saying
is that alcohol is a well established preventable cause of cancer,
(24:09):
responsible about one hundred thousand cases of cancer and twenty
thousand cancer deaths annually, greater than the thirteen thousand, five
hundred alcohol associated traffic crash fatalities. Interesting, he goes on
to say, yet the majority of Americans are unaware of this,
which is what my audience is confirming for us tonight.
(24:29):
They went on and this to list the cancers, which
are breast cancer, coorectum, esophagus, liver, mouth, oral cancer, throat,
and voice box.
Speaker 7 (24:47):
I wonder what other issues people have that developed these cancers?
Is that just the alcohol itself? And I would assume
the amount that you consume would have a significant yes
effect of this. So I don't think it's all is
cut and dried, because I could basically say, you breathe
(25:09):
the ear, how much cancer do you get from the
air we brieve?
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Well, let me give you any Let me give you
some statistics here. Statistics are tough on radio, but let's
let's give it a shot. Okay. It said for men,
the absolute risk of developing an alcohol related cancer increases
from about ten percent ten out of every one hundred
individuals for those who consume less than one drink a
(25:35):
week to eleven point four percent if you have a
drink every day, and it rises to thirteen percent if
you have two drinks a day on average. I don't
know how many people have two drinks a day, but
I guess you could. So you're in your average, your
your I guess, the chances that you're that you could
(26:01):
develop one of these forms of cancer goes from ten percent.
So if you don't drink at all, you can't your
chance of getting one of these cancers is ten percent.
If you do one drink a week, it goes up
one point four percent to eleven point four percent, so
it goes up incrementally. Now, obviously there are other issues
(26:23):
that are related. I mean clearly, you know liver cancer
is one that you've always thought about it.
Speaker 7 (26:33):
So I bring up the question if in doing this
a comparison like this, so if one looked at cardiovascular disease,
what is the percentage of people that develop cardiovascular disease
that don't have any alcohol versus someone that has a
drink a week.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
I don't have those that statistics, however, from this article
that I have in front of me, which is out
of the New York Times, let me read this to
you because it's right on point. Most recently, a scientific
review of the research on moderate drinking, carried out under
the auspices of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine,
(27:14):
was commissioned by Congress. That analysis found a link between
alcohol consumption and a slight increase in breast cancer, but
no clear link to the other cancers. The report also
revived the theory that moderate drinking, your point, is linked
to fewer heart attack and stroke debts and fewer debts
(27:34):
overall compared with never drinking. So then you have the
World Health Organization which says the World Health Organization says
there's no safe limit for alcohol consumption. So you got
these conflicting And here's the thing that's really interesting, at
least for me. It says to date, only South Korea
(27:55):
has a label warning about liver cancer, though manufacturers can
choose alternative labels that don't mention cancer. Ireland, the home
of my forebears who have been known to have a
drink or two, is currently slated to introduce labels that
say there is a direct link between alcohol and fatal
cancers in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 7 (28:16):
So the bottom line is it's the same problem with
Basically everything depends on where to get your information from
as to which is valid.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Well, it is, But when the Surgeon General of the
United States of America speaks, you got to listen to it. Okay,
right now, you don't have to agree with it. We've
had labels on bottles and cans of alcoholic beverages about
drinking while pregnant and before driving and operating other discinity
for a long time. But they're saying that they may
(28:49):
now put a label on you know, beer and wine
and spirits.
Speaker 7 (28:56):
Well, I hate to make this analogy, but when you
talk about the surians in general, well then I can
look at the surgeon General of Florida who was against
the COVID vaccine masking. So yeah, you take it for
what it's worth.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
Well, yeah, there were there were some people around the country, Uh,
medical people. There's never unanimity within the medical community. I
don't think, I mean, maybe on some things.
Speaker 7 (29:26):
But uh yeah, the bottom is I think that I mean,
there's just my opinion. I think that it's important to
know how much someone drinks as to whether there's a
benefit or a detriment to it.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Of course, there's no question about that. I think I
think you're I don't want to accuse you of stating
the obvious, but yeah, I think you're absolutely right. I mean,
if if you're pounding down seven or eight drinks at night,
if you have to make I think it's a yeah,
it's I think it's affecting you. Wait, that problem is
adversely infecting your cardiovascular system. But again we've always learned,
(30:04):
you know, a glass of red wine. I'm a red
wine and a course like guy. So I think I'm okay, Yeah,
I think so, Okay, thank you, Thank you very much, Barry,
appreciate you taking the time. Happy New Year. Let me go,
Let me go next to Penny. Isn't low Penny. I'm
going to get you in here before the break? Go ahead, Penny, Hello, Hi,
(30:26):
how are you? Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Penny?
Speaker 8 (30:34):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (30:35):
Okay, okay, what's up? Welcome to night saga? Right ahead?
What's your thought on this?
Speaker 6 (30:41):
So it's not surprising to me. So for the last
seven to ten years as a gen xer, as people
are getting cancer younger and younger. I have quite a
few friends who have had cancer and they're oncologists has
had them stop drinking. So alcohol, and probably people don't
(31:05):
know this. So alcohol causes inflammation in your body. It
causes joint pain, it could exacerbate immuno suppress of disease.
And when you have constant chronic inflammation in your body,
you know, they're finding a lot of correlations between your
gut health.
Speaker 4 (31:27):
This is why.
Speaker 6 (31:28):
It affects the lining of the esophagus, the liver, the gut,
bacteria in your stomach. So chronic inflammation leads to disease,
which leads to cancer. So I had an ex who
is alcoholic. He actually had an esophageal rupture. You know,
(31:49):
he had liver disease which would turn into liver cancer eventually.
But the oncologists are telling people to stop drinking who
have had cancer.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
Interesting, do you sound to me like you may have
a And if if I'm making an assumption that's wrong here,
please tell me. Do you have a medical background?
Speaker 6 (32:11):
Funny enough, I am a veterinary technician that does anesthesia.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
So okay, well, this that's what look iderstand. That's a
medical background, and thank you for what you do as
a veterinarian. You said that you had a former was
it a boyfriend? That that so that you you have
seen this up close and personal.
Speaker 6 (32:33):
Yes, yes, okay, and most of my friends, unfortunately have
had breast cancer. I've had two friends that have breast cancer.
They have stopped drinking. So between him my friends who
have gotten cancer, I have also stopped drinking alcohol.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
Is also let me ask you, I just when people
throw around gen X and stuff like that, it always
confuses me. How old are you?
Speaker 6 (32:58):
If I could ask, I am forty seven?
Speaker 1 (33:03):
Okay, so you're forty seven? And how long ago did
you stop drinking?
Speaker 6 (33:09):
About ten years ago?
Speaker 1 (33:12):
That's that's a significant period of time. Do you feel
that by stops and I suspect you were not a
big drinker. I suspect that, you know, you probably did
things in moderation. Do you feel better as a result?
Has it? Has it made you absolutely better? Have been
(33:35):
more energy? Because that's what a lot of people say.
Speaker 6 (33:38):
Yeah. Absolutely, And one of those reasons is because alcohol
also turns directly to sugar, which is carbohydrates, the sugar
you know, up and down is kind of what wakes
people up at night after drinking.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (33:55):
I was on a very low carb diet, which also
had me stopping alcohol so that I could lose weight.
And it really lowered all the inflammation in my body
and a lot of the issues that I was health
issues that I was having went away. So you a
(34:15):
source of chronic inflammation, you know, good for you.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
And you were aware of this before the surge of
General's report, Yes, and.
Speaker 6 (34:26):
I am absolutely not surprised. And you know, medicine, you know,
as the years go by, we learn things, we do studies,
we learn things. Unfortunately, we're learning that people are getting
cancer at younger ages, especially this whole gen X generation
has the most cancer at a younger age than any
(34:49):
of the generations. And you know, they're trying to figure
out why why that's happening.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
Are their theories that you might share with us or.
Speaker 6 (35:01):
No, I've you know, I haven't researched too much into that. Okay, ye,
you know, seeing all my friends getting cancer at a
very very you know what I consider young age.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
Yep, that is a young age.
Speaker 6 (35:20):
And it is scary, you know. So I think they're
trying to figure all that out.
Speaker 1 (35:27):
And I do know that they have lowered the age
for you know, certain cancer screening tests that used to
be fifty and now down to forty five or forty
both in terms of both men and women. Penny, thanks
very much. Have you called before since your first time?
Speaker 6 (35:44):
I called one other time. I think it was about
the police union. And I'm not making enough money or
having housing, so.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
They'll do me a favorite. Don't be a stranger. Come
on back sooner than the last one. Okay, thanks very much,
Happy New Year.
Speaker 6 (35:56):
All right, thanks bye, thank you, have a great night.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Quick break here, get a couple more and if you'd
like six one, seven, two, five, four ten thirty six, one, seven, nine,
ten thirty. My names Dan Y talking about a surgeon
General's report that links drinking of any sort alcohol alcohol,
drinking alcohol, wine, beer spirits with cancer, specifically seven types
of cancer. I was unaware of it. Don't know what's
(36:21):
going to change my behavior, but I'd love to know
if you were aware of it, and if you were not,
would have changed your behavior. We'll be back on Nightside.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
Now, back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
nights Side Studios on WBZ, the news Radio.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
Well, let's go to Rick and Bill Rica. Rick, were
you aware of this report?
Speaker 8 (36:43):
No, I wasn't aware of it at all. I mean
we always think of, you know, cirrhosis of the liver,
and maybe you can consider you could consider someone that's
in bad shape if they drink too much. It could
affect on the parts of the body. Sure, I say
moderation all the way, but go ahead, No, I agree
with you this.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
There's certainly something to think about. But I don't consider
myself to be in that in that category. But obviously,
what they're saying is you're you increase the chances, even
if it's by a percentage point or two or three, uh,
if you imbibe more regularly or if you imbibe uh,
(37:27):
you know, you know a little more heavily.
Speaker 8 (37:30):
Let me put it like that, you know, Yeah, what
you gave the figures a few minutes ago, what what
was the percentage? It was ten percent if you didn't
certain cancers. And then what did it go up to
with moderate use arouncohol like what I drink a day,
it kicked it up I think to eleven point four percent.
Speaker 1 (37:50):
Now again, those are those are precise figures. I don't
know that that applies to everybody, but there that's what
they're uh, their their analysis says. And the difference between
a ten percent chance and UH and eleven point four
percent exactly that's going without those who you know, have
(38:11):
you know, have a drink and enjoy a glass of
wine or or or a beer at the ball.
Speaker 8 (38:17):
Game exactly, and even if it's too it takes it
up another point of do I'm having a beer right
now enjoying this conversation. I am enjoying my beer, uhcause
you know, I came back from my band practice, did
my singing. Because I know that it can dry you out.
In general, you gotta you gotta watch it. You go
to the gym, you take care of business. It benefits you,
(38:40):
if anything, and you we all deserve to relax a
little bit. Sure it might it might be a little detrimental,
but I think it's a lot of bloney. I mean
it's sure. I'm sure it's a true report. But you
just gotta are you gotta live life and moderately and
appreciate things. Are you going to be afraid of everything?
Speaker 3 (38:56):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
I think when the old adage that moderation and everything
and everything in moderation, I think that I think that
makes sense. I'm I'm not a druggie. I don't think
there's a there's a moderation in drugs. I don't think
that you could say, oh, I only use LSD a
couple of times a week, or I only use FENTODYL
(39:17):
on weekends. I mean, that's crazy. But I think beer's
been around a long time. Wine's been around a long time.
Speaker 8 (39:25):
You know, wine what red Wind's my vice. I won't
drink it alone. I'm careful about it because I love
it so much, So I'll have it with lens and
when I'm safe, you know, just just easy. I'm not driving,
you know, you know that type of thing. But but exactly,
and cigarettes had had six thousand chemical Well maybe back
when your dad was smoking there were fewer, obviously, probably
(39:46):
probably far fewer, but today's six thousand camera that's gonna
be a more harmful. If they make freer the proper
way and don't add all the crap, it can't be
that detrimental. I mean, Jesus drank wine.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
Well you the wars out of my mouth. I was
gonna say, mine's been around for at least two thousand
years and more, so we know that. Hey, I really
enjoyed it. How was band practiced tonight? Good? I hope, yeah?
Speaker 8 (40:12):
Good good. Just you know, we're trying to get together
for a show and we're kind of we're behind schedule.
Speaker 1 (40:18):
Rick, let me know, do me a favorite, let me know,
and we'll give you when you when you figure it out,
we'll give you more. I'd love to give plugs to
folks who are are in the music industry and listen
to Nightside, who will give you a good plug a
couple of weeks in advance. Maybe we'll be able to
get some listeners up there.
Speaker 8 (40:36):
Okay, I appreciate this. One's in New Hampshire. Like wolfbaro,
thank you.
Speaker 1 (40:43):
Not a problem. People we watch signals a lot stronger
than we get way past Wolf bro. Hey, I got
I'm getting way past time here, so I gotta let
you on.
Speaker 4 (40:51):
Okay, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (40:52):
Thanks Thanks Rick, talk soon. All right, we're done for
the night. I will tell you that tomorrow night President
Biden will start Nightside with his address to the Nation
from the Oval Office, and then we will pick it
up right after he concludes, and we will have your
reaction to his speech and to his four years as president.
My name's Dan Ray. Thanks to Rob, thanks to Marita.
All dogs are cats, All pets go to heaven. That's
(41:14):
my pal Charlie Rays, who passed fifteen years ago in February.
That's where all your pets are who were passed. They
loved you and you love them. I do believe you'll
see them again, see again in more night on nightside,
every on I'll be on Nightside with Dan Ray on
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