A new series of research suggest that alcohol intake poses the greatest risk of developing acetaldehyde-related cancers. People are exposed to the chemical via different sources but heavy drinkers are increasing their risk of developing the disease because of their excessive alcohol intake. This is according to the study conducted by researchers from the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Canada and scientists from the Veterinary Investigation Laboratory Karlsruche in Germany. The team came out with a method of calculating risks for alcohol intake.

Acetaldehyde is a chemical that is widely available in the environment. It is present in tobacco smoke, alcoholic beverages and in certain types of food. It is also produced in the body when alcohol is metabolized. Evidence from the research indicates “that this organic chemical plays a significant role in the development of certain types of cancers (especially of the upper digestive tract).” The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer is in the process of classifying the chemical as potentially carcinogenic.

This current study found that risk levels for acetaldehyde exposure through alcoholic beverages is enough to go beyond the safety limits as far as heavy drinkers are concerned. Based from the assessment, acetaldehyde from alcohol can pose “a lifetime cancer risk of 7.6/10,000.” The level is beyond the usual cancer risks from exposure to the same chemical from the environment.

The risk of developing cancer from heavy alcohol intake, however, is aggravated by further exposure to the chemical from other sources, the team notes. “The problem with acetaldehyde has been that although it has been recognized as toxic by Health Canada some years ago, most risk assessments to date were based on one source of exposure only,” explains Toronto group lead scientist Dr. Jurgen Rehm who is also head of the Public Health and Regulatory Policies at the CAMH. Dr. Rehm further says that the isolated studies has led to negligence as to the overall risk that the chemical can pose.

Based on the findings of the said study, the researchers recommend that acetaldehyde’s classification as a possibly carcinogenic substance be re-examined to include the new evidence that suggest the chemical as an additional risk. They also suggest that, in the future, risk assessment studies should factor in all the elements that can lead to acetaldehyde exposure. The scientists also recommend that authorities recognized the high risks of acetaldehyde-related cancer from alcohol intake so preventive measures can be implemented mainly to reduce the amount of this chemical in alcoholic drinks.

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Scientists have spent decades looking for clues that could explain an individual’s predisposition for substance abuse and it’s only a matter of time before they finally locate the specific genes that are tied to most, if not all, types of addiction. New studies have found that alcohol dependence and addiction to other psychoactive substances share certain genetic triggers.

In a paper presented by addiction experts from the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia Health System, new insights on the progress of understanding the genetic predisposition for addiction have been explained. The said paper is to be published in Nature Reviews Genetics in April of this year.

“Addiction researchers have found that several genes are linked with multiple addictions,” says Ming Li, Ph.D., co-author of the paper and psychiatry and neurobehavioral sciences professor at the UVA School of Medicine. “So we’re narrowing the scope to specific genetic targets.” The professor further explained that as soon as the genetic variants and mechanisms are identified, it is easier to create streamlined and individual treatments for various cases of chemical dependency.

The paper partly serves as a comprehensive guide to addiction genetics studies that are currently being conducted. Li, along with co-author Margit Burmeister , Ph.D., psychiatry and human genetics professor from the University of Michigan presented “a summary of specific genomic locations on 11 chromosomes where addictions to alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, heroin, nicotine and opioids are clustered together.”

“The comparison of peaks for addictions to multiple substances on certain chromosomal locations confirms that genetic vulnerability to different substances overlaps, in part,” says Li. He notes that various gene variants – adelhyde dehydrogenases, ANKK1, GABRA and neuexins 1 and 3 have all been linked to addictions to a number of drugs. He suggests that addiction genetics research should focus on the CHRNA3, CHRNA5 and CHRNB4 clusters. “The exact nature of the gene variants and how they function are still unknown, so functional studies as well as studies using additional ethnic population samples may be quite revealing,” he concludes.

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