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Alcohol, Environment and Malignancies

by Thadeus Obadha Odenyo
https://healthfirst.brick.site/

Alcohol has many health effects including cancer. acting alone alcohol is a potent carcinogen (cancer-causing chemical). At the same time, alcohol can also act as a co-carcinogen. Alcohol use is viewed variously by different segments of society. The assumptions that we make about alcohol depend on our perspective, such as religious, economic, or hedonistic. Regardless of the view that we take alcohol acts on the human body indiscriminately. It is important to acknowledge that no amount of alcohol taken is innocuous. This is because, the quantity consumed notwithstanding, alcohol acts via the same mechanisms to cause harm.  In this exposition, we look at how alcohol interacts with poverty to cause severe disease. Poverty has been defined at the population level and at the individual level. This study dissertates aspects of poverty from both viewpoints. Alcohol use has huge economic benefits because the industry is an employer the world over. Studies on alcohol have indicated that it causes poverty and disease. Some researchers have also shown that disease causes poverty. It is therefore a cyclical relationship between alcohol use, disease, and poverty.

Alcohol use amongst the adult population is sanctioned by law in spite of the known health impacts. In religion, it is used symbolically. In economics, alcohol is central to some communities' economic growth and sustenance. Consumption of alcohol in poverty is economically debilitating as many poverty drivers interact with alcohol to amplify disease causation and proliferation. Since alcoholism is a problem, we try to establish the dynamics of alcoholism. We pose the question, what makes people consume alcohol?

Is it leisure or pleasure, others will say that they consume alcohol to relieve stress. Well, how much pleasure can one derive from consuming alcohol? How much pain does alcohol relieve and for how long?

There are few studies that have been conducted to understand how alcohol relieves pain and how much pleasure can be derived from alcohol use. Studies have reported equivocal findings. Leaving the decision to use alcohol to each individual. Besides, since alcohol has established its own economic niche, scientists are cautious when investigating the pleasure and leisure associated with alcohol use.

How does it begin? Some cultures have endorsed alcohol use in every ceremony and as such, the role played by alcohol in such cultures is almost divine. Anthropologists have reported that in such cultures alcohol is at the core of invoking blessings and inviting good tidings to abound. Therefore, people are exposed to alcohol from birth and are conditioned to use it for their mortal existence on Earth. Studies have shown that individuals exposed to alcohol during childhood are prone to lifetime use of alcohol with concomitant downstream effects of disease, poverty, and death. With individuals who start using in later life either succumb rapidly to the depredations of alcohol use or abandon it altogether.

Alcohol is used to assert economic status. Indeed, there are brands of alcohol that have been known for decades and still stand out as the choicest brands. such brands are used to display economic status and power. As such, state functions and powerful gatherings are qualified by the quality and quantity of alcohol brands used to inundate the rituals. It is true that some alcohol brands cost more than what could be justified. Some functions cannot be successful without alcohol. Mighty or not, alcohol is used from the womb to the tomb. Do people choose to take alcohol or they are forced, well some will say it is a friend or family, others will say it is medicinal. Whichever reason one has for taking alcohol, the outcome is the same, alcohol is harmful. Is it ok to take small doses of alcohol? How much is a small dose? Whether we argue for or against alcohol, there is incontrovertible evidence that alcohol is harmful.   

In many LMICs, the role of alcohol as a carcinogen is compounded by the presence of aflatoxins in alcohol. The level of toxicity depends on the quality of raw materials used in brewing. Whereas there are quality standards that are applied to guide consumer safety standards, local brews are not subject to quality standard assessment. As such the levels of adulterants and toxins derived from aspergillus contamination pose a serious health risk. Worse still, the standard bureaus lack the capacity to test for aflatoxins in alcohol. Given that this is the case, we now pose the question, is it possible that the hepatocellular neoplasms observed in Africa may be associated with aflatoxins that may be present in alcohol. At the same time, there are instances of formalin use to make alcohol more potent. Considering the deleterious synergistic effects of the chemical milieu generated by ethanol, formalin and aflatoxins, what remedial measures are available?  What happens to individuals who smoke and drink alcohol with all the mentioned chemicals? Apart from the immediate acute toxicity, there is increased risk of cancer. We now need to look at the population segments that may be exposed to substandard alcohol. Studies have shown that alcohol use is ubiquitous during social functions. With the rising cost of living, many citizens are opting for cheaper alcohol which are likely to harbour increased carcinogenicity. Looking beyond drinking aflatoxin-contaminated alcohol, what happens after acute or chronic exposure outcomes come to bear. Studies have reported fatalities associated with alcohol poisoning to correlate with socioeconomic status.  

It is important to examine, other potential carcinogenic tributaries that interplay with alcohol to cause increased cancer risk, nanoplastics. How do plastics confer potential carcinogenicity to the alcohol mixture? Studies have reported that plastics are used for lighting fires, cooking fuel, and drinking containers. As such plasticizers, phthalates, fire retardants, UV filters, and other decomposition components of plastics may leach or migrate into alcohol. From the foregoing, it is possible that the complexity of interaction among the chemicals in plastics poses a health risk. However, there is a dearth of information and a lack of elucidation of the mechanisms involved. This is mainly due to the ethical limitations and complexity of variables that interplay in nature. In the laboratory, there is need to develop tools that can assess the interaction of substances that cause cancer. However, creating human models for such studies still remains a challenge.  

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