Criticism is rife over contentious federal study that finds 'any alcohol use' can cause cancer

Even "low levels" of alcohol consumption can cause cancer and are associated with a higher risk of death, a controversial federal study intended to be a basis of a 2025 revision of U.S. Dietary Guidelines has found.

U.S. Rep Mike Thompson (D-Napa)

A recent story by Esther Mobley and Jess Lander in the San Francisco Chronicle online indicates that U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Napa) warned last week of his concern "that the agencies in charge of researching and producing our updated dietary guidelines created a new, less transparent review process to issue alcohol consumption guidance to Americans."

His comments were in regard to the study, published by the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD), that has drawn significant amounts of criticism.

Since 1980, the Chronicle article says, federal dietary guidelines "have stated that one drink a day is safe for women, and two drinks a day is safe for men."

But the ICCPUD findings sharply contrast with those from another report, published in December 2024 by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) that found "moderate drinkers have a lower risk of death than nondrinkers," the piece adds.

According to the Mobley-Lander story, NASEM had concluded that "moderate drinking is linked to lower rates of cardiovascular disease, and with as higher risk of breast cancer, but not other cancers."

The new 81-page document claims, meanwhile, that "the risk of dying from alcohol use begins at low levels of average use [while] higher levels of alcohol consumption are linked with progressively higher mortality risk" — a tenfold increase, in fact.

Who to believe?

Tiffany Hall, board chair of the U.S. Alcohol Policy Alliance, charged Wednesday that "the ICCPUD report highlights the critical need to reduce alcohol harms by properly informing the public of the health risks of consuming alcohol. The fact that any amount of alcohol is harmful to your health can no longer be ignored."

Widespread speculation exists that new guidelines might echo the World Health Organization's 2022 declaration that "there is no safe level of alcohol consumption."

Information on other reports of health risks can be found in Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer, a VitalityPress book that I, Woody Weingarten, aimed at male caregivers.  

Three more books of mine are MysteryDates®, a look at how you can keep the sizzle in your relationship; The Roving I, an anthology of 70 newspaper columns I wrote; and Grampy and His Fairyzona Playmates, a whimsical children's fantasy about a sorcerer and two fairies that I co-authored with my then 8-year-old granddaughter. Details can be found at https://woodyweingarten.com/.

EPA bans 2 cancer-causing chemicals used in everyday products — like dry-cleaning agents

While still under the aegis of Joe Biden,  the EPA banned two cancer-causing chemicals used in everyday products; now, many observers believe, it's only a matter of time until Donald Trump tries to revoke that decision.

The chemicals — perc, an industrial solvent used commonly in dry cleaning, and TCE, a substance found in consumer and manufacturing products (including de-greasing agents) — are known carcinogens, according to a recent story by Amudalat Ajasa in The Washington Post.

For instance, TCE, formally known as trichloroethylene, is associated with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, leukemia, and kidney and liver cancers. The substance also is found in furniture care and auto repair products.

Perc, also known as PCE and perchloroethylene, is a solvent long used in applications of auto repair as well as in dry cleaning.

The two chemicals apparently have been seeping into the environment through the soil and waterways.

Michal Freedhoff, PhD

The Post article quotes Michal Freedhoff, the Environmental Protection Agency's assistant administrator for the Office of Chemical Safe and Pollution Protection and a PhD, to the effect that "the bans will protect workers, consumers, and residents from the chemical's harms."

Jonathan Kalmuss-Katz, a senior attorney at Earth Justice is also quoted: "Both of these chemicals have caused too much harm for too long, despite the existence of safer alternatives."

More information about carcinogens in the environment can be found in Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer, a VitalityPress book that I, Woody Weingarten, its author, aimed at male caregivers.

'MysteryDates®' wins publishers’ association award for best cover of a nonfiction book

MysteryDates®, a VitalityPress book that carries the subtitle “How to keep the sizzle in your relationship,” recently won a BAIPA contest for best nonfiction cover.

It’s the second time VitalityPress books illustrated by Joe Marciniak and written by me, Woody Weingarten, have won cover awards from the Bay Area Independent Publishers Association. The first time was for a whimsical children’s fantasy, Grampy and His Fairyzona Playmates, which was co-written by my granddaughter, Hannah Schifrin, when she was 8 years old.

 

MysteryDates is both a memoir and a travel guide with hundreds of tips on what to do, how to do it, and where to go — locally, nationally, globally.

I’ve also written two other books, The Roving I, a compilation of 70 of the best newspaper columns I’ve written, and Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner’s breast cancer, which is a combination love story and guide to research, meds, and help.

 

For more information, or to order any of the four books, go to woodyweingarten.com.

FDA, citing cancer link in rats, bans red dye in food, beverages, and drugs — but not until 2027

The Federal Drug Administration has banned Red Dye No. 3 in food, beverages, and drugs after linking the chemical to cancer in rats.

According to a subhead in a recent edition of The New York Times online, consumer and food safety groups "have long urged the agency to revoke the use of this dye and others."

Why it's being banned is still a bit of a mystery since the FDA has also claimed that studies show the dye causes cancer in rats but not humans, says the Times story by Andrew Jacobs and Teddy Rosenbluth. Under federal rules, the FDA "is prohibited from approving food additives that cause cancer in humors or animals."

The FDA action calls for companies to begin removing the dye from their products in 2027, the article notes, "more than three decades after the synthetic coloring was first found to cause cancer in male laboratory rats." In 1990, the agency banned the chemical for use in cosmetics and topical drugs.

The petroleum-based additive has been used to give candy, soda and other products "their vibrant cherry red hue," the Jacobs-Rosenbluth piece explains.

Jim Jones

Jim Jones, the FDA's deputy commissioner for human foods, declares in a statement that claims Red Dye No. 3 "puts people at risk are not supported by the available scientific information."

Thomas Galligan, principal scientist for food additives and supplements at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, says "the agency's failure to act sooner was partly the result of industry opposition to a ban, but also reflected chronic underfunding of food safety at the FDA," the Times article reports. And he's quoted as adding, "The FDA has a track record of allowing unsafe chemicals to linger in our food supply long after evidence of harm emerges. And part of the reason for that is that the agency lacks a robust system for reevaluating the safety of chemicals that have already been approved."

According to Jacobs and Rosenbluth, "a big chunk of the blame also falls on Congress for failing to provide the authority and the resources the FDA needs to do its job to protect public health."

Artificial dyes and food additives have been a target for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was nominated big President Trump to be health secretary.

More information about disease-causing agents can be found in Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer, a VitalityPress book that I, Woody Weingarten, aimed at male caregivers.

Three other books of mine are MysteryDates®, a look at how you can keep the sizzle in your relationship; The Roving I, an anthology of 70 newspaper columns I wrote; and Grampy and His Fairyzona Playmates, a whimsical children's fantasy about a sorcerer and two fairies that I co-authored with my then 8-year-old granddaughter. Details can be found at https://woodyweingarten.com/.

Blogger Woody Weingarten celebrates Nancy Fox''s 85th birthday at lunch with her daughter

Woody, Laura, and Nancy.

Today would have been the 85th birthday of my wife, Nancy Fox. I laughed aloud and wept with her daughter, Laura Schifrin, at lunch in one of Nance’s favorite restaurants. 

Most of my days are like that now — up and down, up and down, just like the rollercoaster we rode for more than three decades while we celebrated an extraordinarily happy marriage, life, and journey joined at the hip.

Nancy died May 2. I miss her more than words will ever convey. 

Having finished her cancer chemo treatment, Princess Kate plans more public engagements

Britain's Princess Kate says her chemotherapy treatment for cancer is complete, so she intends to do more public appearances.

That information appears in a story by Karla Adam in editions of The Washington Post earlier this week.

The past nine months, Kate Middleton says, "have been incredibly tough for us as a family."

Princess Kate

Kate — more formally known as Catherine, Princess of Wales, has largely been out of public view since Christmas. 

Buckingham Palace insists the royal is entitled to her medical privacy, and she's not disclosed the site of the cancer.

The princess, who's in line to be a future queen, is expected to at least "attend a Remembrance Sunday service, a fixture of the royal calendar that commemorates those who died in Britain's wars," the Post piece notes.

Kate released the chemo information via a three-minute video. "The cancer journey," she says in the voice-over, "is complex, scary, and unpredictable for everyone, especially those closest to you. With humility, it also brings you face to face with your own vulnerabilities in a way you have never considered before, and with that, a new perspective on everything."

She then adds, "To all those who are continuing their own cancer journey — I remain with you."

A spokesperson for the palace says that King Charles III and Queen Camilla consider the announcement details "to be wonderful news" and will continue to offer "love, thoughts, and support to the princess on her continued path to full recovery."

The king, her father-in-law, was diagnosed with his own cancer earlier this year. He returned to a schedule of public engagements in April on a basis more limited than usual.

Additional information about the multi-pronged disease can be found in Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer, a VitalityPress book that I, Woody Weingarten, aimed particularly at male caregivers.

Experts unsure why breast cancer is spiking among Asian American, Pacific Islander women

The latest federal data "shows the rate of new breast cancer diagnoses in Asian American and Pacific Islander women…is rising much faster than that of many other racial and ethnic groups."

That information appears in a story by Philip Reese in last week's San Francisco Chronicle.

Reese reports that the category "once had relatively low rates of diagnosis" and he suggests that experts are befuddled as to why the increase has occurred. 

His article cites the fact that the latest statistics show the trend "is especially sharp" in women in the group under 50 — with the latest figure "surpassing the rate for black and Hispanic women and on a par with the rate for white women, according to age-adjusted data from the National Institutes of Health."

The stats show the increased rate for the younger age group had jumped about 52% from 2000 to 2021, with rates for those 50 to 64 climbing 33% and those 65 and older 43% during that period.

By comparison, the story contends, "the rate for women of all ages, races, and ethnicities" grew by only 3%.

Experts suspect the answer to the "why" is "complex, ranging from cultural shifts to pressure-filled lifestyles," Reese writes.

Dr. Helen Chew

He then quotes Dr. Helen Chew, director of the Clinical Breast Cancer Program at UC Davis Health, as saying that simple answers aren't obvious and that although "it's a real trend," it's "difficult to tease out exactly why" that trend is happening.

"Is it because of many things culturally where they may not want to come in if they see something on heir breast?" she asks.

Scarlett Gomez, PhD

Scarlett Gomez, PhD professor and epidemiologist at UCSF's Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, explains that "we're seeing somewhere almost around a 4% per-year increase," then suggests that "one of the hypotheses that we're exploring…is the role of…different sources of stress, different coping styles throughout the lifetime."

Reese's article also notes that "rates of pancreatic, thyroid, colon, and endometrial cancer, along with non-Hodgkin lymphoma rates, have also recently risen significantly among Asian American and Pacific Islander women under 50, NIH data show."

For more information on Asian American and Pacific Islander women, check out Rollercoaster: How a man can survive breast cancer, a VitalityPress book that I, Woody Weingarten, aimed at male caregivers.

Debunked cancer study about blood tests has wide ripple effects, Wall Street Journal reports

Research groups that have relied on data from an apparently flawed cancer study now must deal with criticism of the original findings.

Steven Salzberg, PhD

That's the conclusion of Steven Salzberg, a PhD computational biologist at Johns Hopkins University, according to a story by Nidhi Subbaraman in The Wall Street Journal last week.

Salzberg, whose critique, written with colleagues in the field, led to the study's recent retraction, is quoted as saying the faulty conclusions have "polluted the literature."

The WSJ piece says the lead researcher, Professor Rob Knight of the University of California, San Diego, had indicated the 2020 study had "reported that 32 different cancers, from prostate tumors to skin melanomas, harbored unique combinations of microbes, chiefly bacteria and viruses, that acted as fingerprints for each type of tumor. The idea had clinical significance: A blood test could allow physicians to use evidence of microbes detected in the blood as a proxy to diagnose the cancers."

Since the study's publication in 2020 in Nature magazine, more than 600 papers have cited it, Subbraman's article says, and at least a dozen groups based new work on its data. 

In addition, the initial co-researchers had "launched a startup to capitalize on their findings" — although support for it "has dried up" since the criticism became public.

Knight, "a heavyweight in the field of microbiology," the WSJ piece adds, had been "widely regarded as a pioneer of big-date microbial analysis. His resume lists multiple awards and prestigious fellowships at scientific societies, two books and a TED talk."

The original study analyzed data from more than 17,000 samples from over 10,000 people with cancer.

Among the problems discovered was that "some microbes the researchers flagged as components of cancer signatures weren't known to exist in humans." To boot, the critics, whose work was published in the journal mBio, apparently couldn't find "most of the bacteria reported in the Nature study."

Salzberg told The World Street Journal that "it wasn't a close call. This data is completely wrong."

According to the story, a wide ripple effect has followed the criticism: "The publishers and journal editors of eight studies have been reviewing the papers."

More details on studies that had to be retracted can be found in Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer, a VitalityPress book that I, Woody Weingarten, aimed at male caregivers.