Will drinking more than 3 cups of alcohol a day cause liver cancer? 4 causes of liver cancer you need to know

Liver cancer has become the second largest cancer after lung cancer. There are many causes of liver cancer, one of which is drinking. Today, I will tell you how much alcohol you drink may cause liver cancer. The idea that alcohol harms the liver has been deeply rooted in people's minds. After the main component of alcohol (ethanol) enters the human body, only 10% is excreted from the stomach and intestines, and 90% needs to be metabolized by the liver. The intermediate product acetaldehyde produced by metabolism has a direct toxic effect on liver cells. Acetaldehyde can cause liver cells to repeatedly undergo fatty degeneration, necrosis and regeneration, leading to alcoholic liver disease, including alcoholic fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis, liver fibrosis and cirrhosis, and then there is a tendency to develop into liver cancer. So how much is appropriate to drink?

Because of the differences in individual metabolism of ethanol and acetaldehyde, different races and different individual genotypes, the content and activity of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase are not the same, so the tolerance to drinking can vary greatly. For Asians, it is recommended that the daily ethanol intake should not exceed 20 grams, and the alcohol intake (grams) = alcohol intake (ml) × alcohol concentration × 0.8. Drinking within this range is equivalent to 1 liang of 50-proof liquor, which is equivalent to a bottle (600ml) of beer. In addition, studies have shown that for every additional 10 grams of alcohol consumed (roughly equivalent to a glass of alcoholic beverage), the risk of liver cancer will increase by about 4%.

Causes of Liver Cancer:

1. Viral hepatitis: Long-term clinical observations have shown that hepatitis, cirrhosis, and liver cancer are a trilogy of continuous evolution. Recent studies have shown that viral hepatitis associated with liver cancer mainly includes hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C (BCV), among which hepatitis B is the most common.

2. Alcohol: Long-term alcoholism is prone to liver cancer. This is because after alcohol enters the human body, it is mainly decomposed and metabolized in the liver. The toxicity of alcohol to liver cells causes liver cells to have obstacles in the decomposition and metabolism of fatty acids, causing fat deposition in the liver and resulting in fatty liver. The more alcohol is consumed, the more severe the fatty liver becomes, which in turn causes liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and liver cancer. If hepatitis patients drink heavily, it will greatly accelerate and aggravate the formation and development of cirrhosis and promote the occurrence of liver cancer.

3. Diet-related factors: Aflatoxin B1 is a substance that has been proven to have a clear carcinogenic effect. It is mainly found in moldy food, such as corn, peanuts, rice, etc. In addition, when a large amount of food containing nitrite is consumed, nitrite accumulates in the body and cannot be discharged in time, and can be converted into nitrosamines in the body. Foods with high nitrite content are smoked or salted meat products, which have a clear carcinogenic effect. At the same time, the occurrence of liver cancer is also related to genetic factors, parasitic infections and other factors.

4. Genetic factors: In high-incidence areas, liver cancer sometimes shows a familial clustering phenomenon, especially in people who live together and have blood ties. The incidence of liver cancer is high, which may be related to the vertical transmission of the hepatitis virus, but it remains to be confirmed.