It's Not as Simple as 'Just One Drink'

One of the things I really dislike is when people reduce a very complex thing down to some very simple – and it's not true. The World Health Organization's (and other anti-alcohol zealots) "just one drink will give you cancer" falls into the group of things I really dislike.

Why do "never smokers" get lung cancer. We all know that smoking can lead to lung cancer. But it's not that simple – some can secondhand smoke, air pollution, radon and asbestos.

Now, researchers have identified a very rare genetic variant that is associated with 25-fold higher odds of lung cancer, they reported in the journal Science. The variant is most common among people in southern Appalachia than other U.S. regions.

Now, lung cancer is far different that breast cancer and the other cancers that have been linked to drinking alcohol. (As far as I know, the linkage is pure correlation; and correlation does not prove causation.)

But if the cause of lung cancer cancer involve a rare genetic variant that appears to be associated with one particular region of the U.S., it's worth remembering that the linkage of alcohol are correlations and don't prove causation, and, in any event, it just not as simple as blaming alcohol.