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- Nilsson, Staffan, 1974-
(author)
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Yrke, Cancer och Alkohol : En studie av alkoholrelaterad cancer i olika yrken
- 1999
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The association between alcohol and e.g. liver cirrhosis, alcohol psychosis, alcohol poisoning, violence, accidents etc is well established . The connection between alcohol and cancer is less well known, however. Every third Swede will fall ill with cancer during their lifetime. Alcohol is considered to be the second most important risk factor of cancer, preceded by tobacco. Earlier studies on alcohol consumption in different occupations is scarce. There is however a well-established association between alcohol consumption and socio-economic group.The aim of this study is to examine the risks of alcohol-related cancer in men by different occupations. For this purpose the 1970 Census population was followed up for the period 1971-1984 by means of the Swedish Cancer-Environment Registry. Previous research have shown a strong association between alcohol and cancer in the oral cavity, oesophagus, larynx, and pharynx and a slightly weaker association with cancer of the liver. More than half of the incidence of aerodigestive cancer is caused by alcohol. There is a strong synergistic effect between alcohol and cancer in the aetiology of the aerodigestive cancers and more than 80% of these cancers is caused by alcohol in combination with smoking. Smoking is not a risk factor of cancer in the liver, though. The aetiology of cancer is very complex and factors and this complicates the discussion about causality. Lung cancer is largely caused by smoking and by observing the lung cancer incidence in a group the proportion of smokers can be roughly estimated. This is helpful in the estimation of impact of alcohol respectively smoking in the results. In occupational groups which display statistically significantly elevated standardised morbidity rates (SMR) of alcohol related cancer and lung cancer there is reason to take smoking into account in the discussion of the aetiology of aerodigestive cancer. This is a descriptive study is intended to be a base for further etiological or analytical studies. The aim is to establish hypotheses about the possible impact of alcohol in the aetiology of cancer at the aerodigestive sites and cancer of the liver in different occupational groups.The results implies a need for further research on alcohol consumption and cancer among literary and artistic workers, printing workers, housekeepers and related service workers, secretaries, typists and related workers, legal workers, travelling agents, waiters and waitresses, ship officers, post workers and other messengers, and finally packers, dockers and freight handlers, store and warehouse workers. It is difficult to draw any general conclusions from these results, but in several of these occupational groups there are several established risk factors of a higher alcohol consumption to be found, such as inadequate social contacts, low control, high demands resulting in high tension, among others. Whether the cancer, examined in this study, is caused by alcohol or some other risk factors it is important in a pubic health perspective to study these occupational groups and work environments in further detail to order to enable future prevention.
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