ScienceDaily (June 10, 2009) — The risk of lung cancer increases for those smokers who have a tendency to binge drinking. This was found by the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study (KIHD), conducted at the University of Kuopio in Finland.

The KIHD study has followed up a cohort of men from eastern Finland for about 17 years. Binge drinking was found be associated with an increased risk of lung cancer among those who had smoked between 1 and 30 years regardless of how many cigarrettes a day they smoked. Meanwhile, binge drinking was not associated with any increased risk of lung cancer among non-smokers.

Because the risks were observed among smokers alone, other effects of smoking cannot be completely ruled out in interpreting the research results.

The study is part of the Academy of Finland’s research programme on Substance Use and Addictions.

Story Source:

Adapted from materials provided by Academy of Finland, via AlphaGalileo.

Journal Reference:

1. Toriola et al. Does binge drinking increase the risk of lung cancer: results from the Findrink study. The European Journal of Public Health, 2009; DOI: 10.1093/eurpub/ckp049

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