While it’s common knowledge that tobacco use increases the risk of cancer, under half of Americans are aware that even low amounts of alcohol use are a leading preventable cause of at least seven types of cancer.
Every year, alcohol use contributes to nearly 100,000 cancer cases and about 20,000 cancer deaths, according to a recent advisory from the former U.S. Surgeon General. Notably, drinking even small amounts of alcohol increases the risk of breast cancer. Another study found that men and women who have one drink a day were 40% more likely than those who did not drink to develop mouth cancer.
For women, alcohol use poses the additional risk of prenatal alcohol exposure, a leading preventable cause of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs). People with FASDs can have lifelong effects, including problems with learning, behavior, and physical development. Similar to alcohol and cancer risk, there is no known safe amount of alcohol to consume if a woman is pregnant or might be pregnant. Alcohol can cause problems for a developing baby throughout pregnancy, including before a woman knows she’s pregnant. In addition, all types of alcohol are harmful, including wine, beer, and liquor.
This Alcohol Awareness Month, social workers can dispel common myths about drinking, including the belief that there is a safe time, amount, or amount of alcohol to drink while pregnant. For a healthy pregnancy, avoiding alcohol and other substances is the safest thing to do. And if a client is drinking while pregnant, every day counts. The sooner the drinking stops, the better for the baby.
The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and NASW Foundation are partners with the Health Behavior Research and Training Institute at The University of Texas at Austin Steve Hicks School of Social Work in a national initiative to prevent alcohol- and other substance-exposed pregnancy. This Centers for Disease Control and Prevention effort puts social work at the center of prevention practice, along with cross-discipline partners, in the FASD National Partner Network.
Resources
- Alcohol and Cancer Risk: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory
- FASD Fact Sheets (FASD United)
- Glimpses of FASD – Meet Brenna! (youtube.com) (FASD United)
- NASW Practice Perspectives: Alcohol Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT)
- Video Series: Lived Experiences with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (CDC)
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Article by Diana Ling, MA, Senior Program Manager; and Anna Mangum, MSW, MPH, Senior Health Strategist; Health Behavior Research and Training Institute, Steve Hicks School of Social Work, The University of Texas at Austin.
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This initiative, Engaging Social Workers in Preventing Alcohol- and Other Substance-Exposed Pregnancies, is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as part of a financial assistance award totaling $913,610 with 100 percent funded by CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, CDC/HHS, or the U.S. Government.
