Does Homebrewing lead to cancer?

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madscientist451

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A new study says that drinking alcohol, including moderate consumption, leads to many different kinds of cancer.
I know that my own consumption of beer, wine and cider has gone up since
I've been making those things at home.
I also know brewers that make 10-15 gallon batches, have 4 taps going in a kegerator all the time and drink way more than I do.
The study says seven pints a week should be the upper limit.
So what does everyone think, should everyone slow down on the drinking or is this study nothing to worry about?
I have been reducing my drinking lately, before this study came out, mostly to try to shed a few pounds but also too try to feel better.
Here's a link to the study:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jul/22/alcohol-direct-cause-seven-forms-of-cancer-study
 
It's to the point that the next headlines will be "Being Alive Causes Cancer."




Stop living now if you want to avoid cancer... :ban:

Everything.....gives you cancer, there's no cure there's no answer....
(Joe Jackson)

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggWNfAKfcPE[/ame]
 
Odds are people are on this forum in the pursuit of creating a quality homemade product or out of admiration for well made commercial examples which for some is out of distaste of the mass produced inferior products out there.

That same mentality could never have any confident opinion on every second "study" that comes out.


At least this is how I'll justify my cancer beer.
 
Life gives you cancer. I say Fok em all and have another home brew.
 
Actually, homebrew contains copious amounts of one of the most dangerous - even lethal - substances known to man -- dihydrogen oxide, or DHMO for short.

Each year, Dihydrogen Monoxide is a known causative component in many thousands of deaths and is a major contributor to millions upon millions of dollars in damage to property and the environment. Some of the known perils of Dihydrogen Monoxide are:
  • Death due to accidental inhalation of DHMO, even in small quantities.
  • Prolonged exposure to solid DHMO causes severe tissue damage.
  • Excessive ingestion produces a number of unpleasant though not typically life-threatening side-effects.
  • DHMO is a major component of acid rain.
  • Gaseous DHMO can cause severe burns.
  • Contributes to soil erosion.
  • Leads to corrosion and oxidation of many metals.
  • Contamination of electrical systems often causes short-circuits.
  • Exposure decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes.
  • Found in biopsies of pre-cancerous tumors and lesions.
  • Given to vicious dogs involved in recent deadly attacks.
  • Often associated with killer cyclones in the U.S. Midwest and elsewhere, and in hurricanes including deadly storms in Florida, New Orleans and other areas of the southeastern U.S.
  • Thermal variations in DHMO are a suspected contributor to the El Nino weather effect.

For more info on DHMO, please visit www.DHMO.org
 
Actually, homebrew contains copious amounts of one of the most dangerous - even lethal - substances known to man -- dihydrogen oxide, or DHMO for short.

Each year, Dihydrogen Monoxide is a known causative component in many thousands of deaths and is a major contributor to millions upon millions of dollars in damage to property and the environment. Some of the known perils of Dihydrogen Monoxide are:
  • Death due to accidental inhalation of DHMO, even in small quantities.
  • Prolonged exposure to solid DHMO causes severe tissue damage.
  • Excessive ingestion produces a number of unpleasant though not typically life-threatening side-effects.
  • DHMO is a major component of acid rain.
  • Gaseous DHMO can cause severe burns.
  • Contributes to soil erosion.
  • Leads to corrosion and oxidation of many metals.
  • Contamination of electrical systems often causes short-circuits.
  • Exposure decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes.
  • Found in biopsies of pre-cancerous tumors and lesions.
  • Given to vicious dogs involved in recent deadly attacks.
  • Often associated with killer cyclones in the U.S. Midwest and elsewhere, and in hurricanes including deadly storms in Florida, New Orleans and other areas of the southeastern U.S.
  • Thermal variations in DHMO are a suspected contributor to the El Nino weather effect.

For more info on DHMO, please visit www.DHMO.org

e49.jpg
 
Actually, homebrew contains copious amounts of one of the most dangerous - even lethal - substances known to man -- dihydrogen oxide, or DHMO for short.



Each year, Dihydrogen Monoxide is a known causative component in many thousands of deaths and is a major contributor to millions upon millions of dollars in damage to property and the environment. Some of the known perils of Dihydrogen Monoxide are:

  • Death due to accidental inhalation of DHMO, even in small quantities.
  • Prolonged exposure to solid DHMO causes severe tissue damage.
  • Excessive ingestion produces a number of unpleasant though not typically life-threatening side-effects.
  • DHMO is a major component of acid rain.
  • Gaseous DHMO can cause severe burns.
  • Contributes to soil erosion.
  • Leads to corrosion and oxidation of many metals.
  • Contamination of electrical systems often causes short-circuits.
  • Exposure decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes.
  • Found in biopsies of pre-cancerous tumors and lesions.
  • Given to vicious dogs involved in recent deadly attacks.
  • Often associated with killer cyclones in the U.S. Midwest and elsewhere, and in hurricanes including deadly storms in Florida, New Orleans and other areas of the southeastern U.S.
  • Thermal variations in DHMO are a suspected contributor to the El Nino weather effect.



For more info on DHMO, please visit www.DHMO.org


Made me think of this, and laugh. Thank you. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1469201459.728827.jpg
 
I raise a ton of money for the American Cancer Society every year...
In the process, I get to learn allot about cancer.

The leading cause of death in the united states is being alive.

BBQ causes cancer too.

You could live in a bubble and still get cancer.

Enjoy your beer in moderation :D (moderation is a relative term)
 
Hey, did you know that curing cancer causes cancer? (chemotherapy and secondary cancer)

Cancer is a b!tch, I agree completely. But I will not go all out abolitionist until we have a better understanding of the disease.
 
I'm completely ignoring the mental pollution - er, I mean the "article" - and focusing on the study, seen here (linked in the article): http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.13477/full

I know a lot of people will poke fun at the guardian for posting such dreck, and it's completely deserved... But I figure as long as it's posted here on the forums, I might as well deconstruct and lay bare some of the conclusions arrived at by the study within and possibly put to rest some of the worries that might be festering at the back of people's minds.

I've shortened some paragraphs and concepts by use of ellipses [...] for readibility, and I don't intend on hijacking, misconstruing, or misleading by their use. The article is open and available for all to read. All emphasis mine. Geez, what is this, a newspaper?! Enough with the disclaimers already! :p

The use of causal language...is patchy, with titles of papers and newspaper headlines often choosing to describe a causal association as a ‘link’ between alcohol and cancer. Expressions such as ‘alcohol-related cancer’, ‘alcohol-attributable cancer’ and the effect of alcohol on ‘the risk of cancer’ incorporate an implicit causal association, but are easily interpreted as something less than cancer being caused by drinking.

...there seems to be particular confusion about two aspects of ‘alcohol causes cancer’, the first being the meaning of ‘cause’ and the second being the quality of the evidence.

The meta-analyses have not been able to describe the influence of pattern of drinking on cancer risk...due to insufficient data in the component studies. However, recent analyses from two large cohort studies in the United States do not suggest a significant impact of drinking pattern on risk of total cancer in light to moderate drinkers

The strength of the association with alcohol varies by site of the cancer, being particularly strong for mouth...and less so for colorectal cancer, liver and breast cancer. For cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx and oesophagus there is a well-recognized interaction of alcohol with smoking [tobacco], resulting a multiplicative effect on risk. Biological evidence is supportive of the carcinogenic potential of drinking alcohol and the interaction with smoking [sic]...

...evidence that, for some cancers, the risk associated with alcohol attenuates when drinking ceases...the risk of oesophageal cancer and cancers of the head and neck increased for a period of years before declining, and was similar to never drinkers after 20 years. A recent systematic review of the risk of laryngeal and pharyngeal cancers after quitting also found that the risk was reversible, with a reduction of approximately 15% of the excess risk in 5 years, and equivalence with never drinkers after more than 30 years.

The effects of light to moderate drinking on cancer risk have had special attention recently...women who drank between 70 and 140 g of alcohol per week had a 5% increase in total cancer compared with those drinking less than 20 g per week...In this study, alcohol-related risk of aerodigestive cancers was limited to women who smoked

Pure ethanol does not act as a carcinogen in animal studies...for cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, oesophagus and liver there is strong evidence that DNA damage is due to acetaldehyde. Most ethanol will be metabolized to acetaldehyde in the liver...as further metabolism to acetate is limited at the site. There is some evidence of another causal pathway through alcohol facilitating access for other carcinogens, such as tobacco constituents, by enabling the penetration of the mucosa in the upper aerodigestive tract. This would go some way towards explaining the interaction between alcohol and smoking for head and neck cancers.

Proof is impossible in epidemiology

In making judgements about causation...there is no checklist or statistical method for inferring causation. Judgement largely employs inductive reasoning, conjecture and refutation.

Firstly, this article gains a lot of its data from a breast cancer study called The Million Women Study which was focused primarily on breast cancer of women 50 and over, but apparently did screen for many different types of cancer. The website itself actually has some interesting statistics and is worth a read.

As for the "7 sites", it's total hogwash. Colorectal, liver, and breast cancers are "less associated" with drinking. An association that I believe is weak to non-existant, but without hard numbers, it's impossible to tell. I'll admit that liver cancer is probably more highly likely with heavy drinking. Mouth, pharynx, larynx and oesophagus cancers are more associated with drinking when paired with smoking tobacco, most likely cigarettes.

Something to note is the words "causal" and "causation" are heavily used to describe the relationship between drinking and cancer.

The conclusion goes on to rant for 2 paragraphs about the alcohol industry's "vitrually unlimited resources", dangers of not setting a "safe level" of drinking, and promoting alcohol for so-called health benefits. Soapboxing in a "scientific" study.

This is plainly and simply NOT SCIENCE. Science relies on controlled and controllable variables and repeatability. There is no definitive data to be gleaned from this paper, nor is it a valid study. It's purely - as it says - inductive reasoning, conjecture, and refutation. It takes data from an unrelated 20 year study and massages it to fit a propagandistic message.

Carry on brewing, my brothers and sisters! :mug:
 
Im not one that says everything gives you cancer so screw it. But I am one to say that there's a new study every day and headlines and sales matter to newspapers than actual thought through and tested science so I'd wait to see if more tests show the same thing. We are constantly fooled by false studies. On The Media did a great show about a chocolate story that showed health benefits of chocolate that was 100% made up just to see if people would believe it and it went worldwide and people still refer to it as a reason to eat chocolate
 
Correlation does not equal causation. As was mentioned before this is a meta data study. It is crap. The only thing the writers of this paper should do is study the word "bias". There is a link between cancer and age. The older you are the more likely you are to get cancer until even that reverses. Don't stress about it unless you are adding carcinogens like formaldehyde to you beer. I mean more than the tiny amount produced by fermentation.:D
 
A new study says that drinking alcohol, including moderate consumption, leads to many different kinds of cancer.
I know that my own consumption of beer, wine and cider has gone up since
I've been making those things at home.
I also know brewers that make 10-15 gallon batches, have 4 taps going in a kegerator all the time and drink way more than I do.
The study says seven pints a week should be the upper limit.
So what does everyone think, should everyone slow down on the drinking or is this study nothing to worry about?
I have been reducing my drinking lately, before this study came out, mostly to try to shed a few pounds but also too try to feel better.
Here's a link to the study:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jul/22/alcohol-direct-cause-seven-forms-of-cancer-study

in "Perfect Drinking and its enemies" Poikoleinen addresses it in great length by meta analysis of many studies. The takeaway is that at 25g alcohol consumption (about 2 drinks a day) there is no detectable cancer risk increase over abstainers, but there is a measurable risk increase of some cancers at 50g (about 4 drinks a day) - some cancers risks (like mouth/esophagus/larynx) increase by almost a factor of 2 over abstainer risks.
However, these cancers are relatively rare (in comparison), and moderate alcohol intake has a much greater positive effect at reducing cardiovascular and stress related diseases - which are also more common killers. So the total effect on one's health is a dramatic decrease in death rate for regular drinkers (maxed out at almost 50% decrease over abstainers, at about 2 drinks a day) and with positive effects decreasing with long tail reaching 5-6 drinks a day over abstainers - mostly due to increases in negative effects due to exposure to ethanol and other chemicals.

Not all drinks are the same. Low abv drinks like beer are much much better than high abc drinks like vodka or scotch. Regular daily consumption, especially drunk slowly, and with food, is much better than binge drinking etc.

Overall - 2 beers a day every day, with food, and drunk slowly (to allow for slow adsorption) is best for your health. 4-5 beers a day every day, with food, slowly - still better than abstaining! Abstaining during the week and then drinking 10-15 tequila shots on Saturday/Sunday on empty stomach is much worse than abstaining, despite the same average alcohol consumption.

Below is the table of coronary disease risks (normalized to lifelong abstainers = 1) for # drinks per day and days drinking.

Perf.Drinking.png
 
Actually, homebrew contains copious amounts of one of the most dangerous - even lethal - substances known to man -- dihydrogen oxide, or DHMO for short.

Each year, Dihydrogen Monoxide is a known causative component in many thousands of deaths and is a major contributor to millions upon millions of dollars in damage to property and the environment. Some of the known perils of Dihydrogen Monoxide are:
  • Death due to accidental inhalation of DHMO, even in small quantities.
  • Prolonged exposure to solid DHMO causes severe tissue damage.
  • Excessive ingestion produces a number of unpleasant though not typically life-threatening side-effects.
  • DHMO is a major component of acid rain.
  • Gaseous DHMO can cause severe burns.
  • Contributes to soil erosion.
  • Leads to corrosion and oxidation of many metals.
  • Contamination of electrical systems often causes short-circuits.
  • Exposure decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes.
  • Found in biopsies of pre-cancerous tumors and lesions.
  • Given to vicious dogs involved in recent deadly attacks.
  • Often associated with killer cyclones in the U.S. Midwest and elsewhere, and in hurricanes including deadly storms in Florida, New Orleans and other areas of the southeastern U.S.
  • Thermal variations in DHMO are a suspected contributor to the El Nino weather effect.

For more info on DHMO, please visit www.DHMO.org

It was nice to visit this site and reminisce about my Geocities site from the 90's. I wonder if i is still up and running on an old server somewhere. :D
 
Actually, homebrew contains copious amounts of one of the most dangerous - even lethal - substances known to man -- dihydrogen oxide, or DHMO for short.

Each year, Dihydrogen Monoxide is a known causative component in many thousands of deaths and is a major contributor to millions upon millions of dollars in damage to property and the environment. Some of the known perils of Dihydrogen Monoxide are:
  • Death due to accidental inhalation of DHMO, even in small quantities.
  • Prolonged exposure to solid DHMO causes severe tissue damage.
  • Excessive ingestion produces a number of unpleasant though not typically life-threatening side-effects.
  • DHMO is a major component of acid rain.
  • Gaseous DHMO can cause severe burns.
  • Contributes to soil erosion.
  • Leads to corrosion and oxidation of many metals.
  • Contamination of electrical systems often causes short-circuits.
  • Exposure decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes.
  • Found in biopsies of pre-cancerous tumors and lesions.
  • Given to vicious dogs involved in recent deadly attacks.
  • Often associated with killer cyclones in the U.S. Midwest and elsewhere, and in hurricanes including deadly storms in Florida, New Orleans and other areas of the southeastern U.S.
  • Thermal variations in DHMO are a suspected contributor to the El Nino weather effect.

For more info on DHMO, please visit www.DHMO.org

For those who don't know letting your homebrew sit in the sun uncovered for a couple months should remove most of the DHMO. Cheers!
 
A new study says that drinking alcohol, including moderate consumption, leads to many different kinds of cancer.
I know that my own consumption of beer, wine and cider has gone up since
I've been making those things at home.
I also know brewers that make 10-15 gallon batches, have 4 taps going in a kegerator all the time and drink way more than I do.
The study says seven pints a week should be the upper limit.
So what does everyone think, should everyone slow down on the drinking or is this study nothing to worry about?
I have been reducing my drinking lately, before this study came out, mostly to try to shed a few pounds but also too try to feel better.
Here's a link to the study:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jul/22/alcohol-direct-cause-seven-forms-of-cancer-study

I am going to say yes, homebrew leads to cancer. You live longer if you homebrew because you get to "enjoy life more" and the longer you live the more likely it is to get cancer, thus:
Homebrew=Happiness=Longer Life=Cancer :(
:mug:
 
For those who don't know letting your homebrew sit in the sun uncovered for a couple months should remove most of the DHMO. Cheers!


I recently had the guts to try a beer from a keg that was sitting in my friends yard for almost 15 years lol. It was an old keg of Key West Sunset Ale from back before the brewery moved to the mainland. We went to clean it out and it smelled like an aged barley wine so I filled a pitcher to try. After a dozen Key West summers and hurricane seasons the beer was somehow still drinkable. Blew my mind lol.
 
Actually, homebrew contains copious amounts of one of the most dangerous - even lethal - substances known to man -- dihydrogen oxide, or DHMO for short.

Each year, Dihydrogen Monoxide is a known causative component in many thousands of deaths and is a major contributor to millions upon millions of dollars in damage to property and the environment. Some of the known perils of Dihydrogen Monoxide are:
  • Death due to accidental inhalation of DHMO, even in small quantities.
  • Prolonged exposure to solid DHMO causes severe tissue damage.
  • Excessive ingestion produces a number of unpleasant though not typically life-threatening side-effects.
  • DHMO is a major component of acid rain.
  • Gaseous DHMO can cause severe burns.
  • Contributes to soil erosion.
  • Leads to corrosion and oxidation of many metals.
  • Contamination of electrical systems often causes short-circuits.
  • Exposure decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes.
  • Found in biopsies of pre-cancerous tumors and lesions.
  • Given to vicious dogs involved in recent deadly attacks.
  • Often associated with killer cyclones in the U.S. Midwest and elsewhere, and in hurricanes including deadly storms in Florida, New Orleans and other areas of the southeastern U.S.
  • Thermal variations in DHMO are a suspected contributor to the El Nino weather effect.

For more info on DHMO, please visit www.DHMO.org
This is total BS! Somebody had way too much time on there hands.
 
I am going to say yes, homebrew leads to cancer. You live longer if you homebrew because you get to "enjoy life more" and the longer you live the more likely it is to get cancer, thus:
Homebrew=Happiness=Longer Life=Cancer :(
:mug:

Runners and people who exercise regularly are more likely to die from cancer compared to those who don't exercise.

...because they are less likely to die from heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
 
The following is purely my opinion and not a claim of fact.........
Ok, having said that it is my belief that any such correlation would come more from the glyphosate that is used on the fields where they are growing the grains that we use in brewing. It stays in the soil, is retained in the crops that it is used on, and is present in everyone that doesn't eat an exclusive organic diet. We have Monsanto to thank for making our beer, and so much more in this world, poisonous......
 
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