Study finds regular alcohol use raises cancer-death risk among older adults

Older adults who drink regularly face a higher risk of dying from cancer, according to a large study in the United Kingdom. The risk appeared especially pronounced among people already dealing with health problems or living in poorer socioeconomic conditions.

The analysis included about 135,000 people aged 60 and over from a large biomedical database. Researchers followed their health outcomes for a median of 12.4 years and compared regular and heavy drinkers with people who drank occasionally. They used occasional drinkers rather than abstainers as the control group because abstainers can include former drinkers who stopped after developing health problems.

The study found that people with health conditions had a higher risk of cancer death even when they drank small amounts. Heavy drinkers also faced greater risks of death from cardiovascular disease, as well as cancer and other causes. Mortality risks were higher among people living in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, regardless of alcohol intake, a pattern the researchers linked to less healthy lifestyles and reduced access to social support and health services.

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Adverse effects on cancer mortality are observed from the first drop.

“Adverse effects on cancer mortality are observed from the first drop,” said lead author Rosario Ortolá, an associate professor of preventive medicine and public health at the Autonomous University of Madrid. Alessandro Gallina of the European Public Health Alliance said the research “reconfirms that no level of alcohol consumption is safe.”

The findings come as European governments adopt additional alcohol controls. Ireland will require cancer and liver-disease risk labels on alcoholic drinks from 2026, while Norway is also preparing to introduce health warnings. The World Health Organization says alcohol causes nearly one million deaths each year across Europe, the region with the world’s highest alcohol-consumption levels.

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Reconfirms that no level of alcohol consumption is safe.