Sarah Williams

Alcohol and cancer – the size of the problem in the UK

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Sarah Williams

Alcohol causes thousands of cases of cancer every year, but cutting back can reduce the risk.

You might be surprised to learn that alcohol-related cancer caused more hospital admissions than alcohol-related violence and road accidents combined (figures for England, 2010-11).

This is just one of the findings of a new report published by the Alcohol Health Alliance (AHA), highlighting the need for the UK to cut back on boozing in order to reduce cases of cancer and deaths from the disease. As well as gaining coverage in the media, the report will help politicians recognise the need for new measures to reduce alcohol harm.

The AHA believes that the UK’s problems with alcohol aren’t just social. It’s important that politicians also realise the true extent of the damage drinking does to the nation’s health. And Cancer Research UK agrees – that’s why we sponsored the report.

Let’s look at the risks in more detail.

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Absolute versus relative risk – making sense of media stories

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Sarah Williams

Some activities are riskier than others

What do these headlines have in common?

They’re all statements of the relative risk of developing cancer. They tell us how much more, or less, likely the disease is in one group, compared to another.

But crucially, they don’t tell us anything about the overall likelihood of any of these things happening at all – what’s known as the absolute risk.

In this post we’ll explore the notion of risk, and some of the common pitfalls of taking headlines involving risk at face value.

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No, TV is not “giving kids cancer”

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Sarah Williams

Watching TV or playing computer games will not “give kids cancer”. Image from Wikimedia Commons

“TV & COMPUTER CRAZE IS GIVING KIDS CANCER” – The front page of today’s Daily Mirror might give you terrifying visions of cancerous death rays shooting from the screen.

Rest assured this is not happening. But today’s papers paint a muddled picture about something that is a genuine cause for concern – that living a sedentary lifestyle can increase a person’s cancer risk.

First off, let’s establish what this story wasn’t about. Despite the headlines this story is nothing to do with TV or computer screens themselves. It’s about how “experts” are warning that spending too long sitting down (as opposed to specifically watching TV or playing games) could increase a child’s risk of cancer later in their life, as it can lead to obesity and inactivity.

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Food and cancer: why media reports are often misleading

Posted on December 14, 2012 by Sarah Williams

Plate of food (image from WIkimedia Commons)

This research shows the danger of overstating the results of single studies

The media’s appetite for things that cause or prevent cancer can be as notable for its sheer volume as for – in some cases – its hype. And food is a key area of interest, because everyone can relate to the latest headlines on bacon or broccoli.

Rarely a week goes by without headlines on the latest “cancer-busting” food or, at the other end of the spectrum, the unexpected perils of pop. So a research article with the intriguing title ‘Is everything we eat associated with cancer? A systematic cookbook review‘, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition recently, couldn’t fail to catch our attention.

This review looked at a selection of cookbook ingredients to see if they had been investigated for links to cancer. The researchers found that most of the 50 foods they looked at had been associated with an increased or decreased cancer risk in the scientific literature.

But is this a testament to the power of different foods over our chance of developing cancer? Or is it proof that scientists just can’t make their mind up?

In fact it’s neither. The most important finding of the review was that single studies often found links that had only weak evidence behind them.

The research provokes thoughts about why we do research, how much one study on its own can tell us, and the value of considering the balance of evidence.

Perhaps most importantly, is also raises questions about how much detail scientists and the media provide as context when they present results to the public.

And rather ironically, and worryingly, one paper decided this study warranted the conclusion that there is ‘no proven link between foods and cancer’. This is clearly not the case, as we explain below.

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Night shifts linked to breast cancer in women? Probably – but not definitely

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Sarah Williams

Not enough evidence to say for sure that working night shifts increases breast cancer risk

A Danish study into whether working night shifts could affect a woman’s risk of breast cancer is hitting the headlines today.

But (as is often the case), when you look beyond the headlines, the picture can become a little less clear.

So could working night shifts cause breast cancer? The science says “probably”. But probably can be a bit of a tricky word: it isn’t no, but it isn’t really yes either.

So what’s going on? We’ve covered this issue before on this blog, so what does today’s study add to the picture?

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Behind the headines: low-level alcohol drinking and breast cancer

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Sarah Williams

Alcohol is linked to an increased risk of breast cancer

For regular readers, alcohol and breast cancer may seem like old news, and you might wonder why it’s hit the headlines again.

But solid new data from a team of international researchers gives a new, more accurate estimate of how much one small drink a day can increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer.

The study – which reviews all the available evidence – helps settle the question of how big the risk is for women who only drink lightly, as we’ll see below.

The research also increases the overall strength of the evidence for a link between alcohol and breast cancer.

And given the recent news on minimum alcohol pricing, it’s worth bearing in mind the impact that small changes can make.

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Recipe for a healthy diet

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Sarah Williams

Our competion winner

Eating more healthily and even dropping a few pounds are common resolutions, and after the over-indulgence of Christmas can initially seem very easy to stick to. But with wind, rain and even snow outside, it’s easy to understand why our minds can quickly turn to comfort food.

Nothing whets the appetite like a competition, so to encourage our staff to practice what they preach when it comes to our healthy living messages we ran a contest in the office. We challenged our staff for their best recipes to beat the winter blues, but that still get a big tick for healthiness.

The response was fantastic – possibly not quite as enthusiastic as the rush to the kitchen when someone brings in birthday cake – but nevertheless encouraging. Little did we know that there were so many budding Jamie Oliver’s in the office.

[Please feel free to share your own healthy recipes in the comments below!]

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