Piedmont expert on alcohol consumption and cancer diagnosis link
COLUMBUS, Ga. () — Last month, the outgoing U.S. Surgeon General put out an advisory on alcohol consumption and cancer risk. It links alcohol consumption to cancers of the mouth, liver, throat and more.
Dr. Walter Curran leads Piedmont's oncology team in Atlanta; he said the outgoing Surgeon General's advisory may be a tough pill to swallow for some patients.
'Cancer cure rates continue to increase for most types of cancer, which is fabulous, but the frequency of cancer development has not gone down for many types of cancer,' Curran said.
PAWS Humane begins official transition to take over animal control operations
According to Curran, rates of lung cancer have reduced due to decreases in smoking, however the trend has not translated to other types of cancers. He hopes keeping the public more informed about what impact alcohol consumption may have on likelihood of developing cancer could influence changed behavior surrounding drinking.
'I think it's a it's tough news for many of us who might enjoy moderate intake of alcohol. But again, better to be informed than uninformed about an important issue like this,' Curran said.
One group particularly at risk is women, who are more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer if they drink alcohol.
This might be due to one of multiple ways alcohol can cause cancer, which is by altering hormone levels, including estrogen.
Experts on 2025 economic outlook for Columbus and the state of Georgia
Information released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services shows about five more women out of 100 would develop cancer with an alcohol consumption rate of two drinks per day. It also shows the same rate of alcohol consumption increases risk of breast cancer.
'If you're a woman who has a family history of breast cancer or if you're a woman who has had one breast cancer and your physicians tell you are at risk for another, that's a person who probably needs to think even more seriously about significantly reducing their alcohol use,' Curran said.
The USDHH reports 741,300 cases of cancer were linked to alcohol consumption in 2020. Nearly 25% of those cases were among those who drank less-than or equal-to two drinks per day.
Curran said he expects changes in Food and Drug Administration Guidelines concerning 'safe' alcohol consumption as research continues to link even moderate amounts, to developing cancer.
Read the full USDHH report here.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Yahoo
Neil William Curran, former Baltimore city planner and organic farmer, dies
Neil William Curran, a former Baltimore city planner who became an organic farmer, died of dementia May 13 at Roland Park Place. The former Mount Washington resident was 90. Born in Cranford, New Jersey, he was the son of John Robert Curran and Elizabeth Noxon Curran. He earned a bachelor's degree at Rutgers University, served in the Army in Okinawa and later took graduate courses at Columbia University. He joined the Fairfield County, Connecticut, planning office and met his wife, Anne Brinsko, at a New Year's Eve party. They married in 1962. Mr. Curran became a Baltimore City planner in the mid-1960s and worked in economic development and the federal community renewal program. He was among those who opposed the construction of an interstate highway through Fells Point and Canton. 'He was adventurous, inquisitive and always reading and clipping newspaper articles, always working to make things better,' said a planning colleague, Rachel Edds. By the end of the 1970s, he decided to change careers and bought a 290-acre farm in Clear Spring in Washington County, Maryland. 'My father was inspired by his Uncle Charlie's farm in Johnsonville, New York. He and my mother spent weekends looking for a farm property, even looking in England and Ireland,' said his daughter, Joyce Holbrook. 'He designed and built a passive solar house with a wood stove and large greenhouse.' 'Every morning for years, my father fed the barn cats that got dropped off by the dozens at the old dairy barn,' his daughter said. Mr. Curran organically farmed about 5 acres of vegetables and sold them to local markets, restaurants, and at the weekly Hagerstown Farmers Market. He also worked for the Washington County government. 'My father was more concerned that people were eating healthy vegetables than how much he got for them. It was a labor of love,' his daughter said. Terral M. Jordan, T. Rowe Price venture capitalist, dies Todd Liddell Parchman, investment banker, dies Jim Henneman, Baltimore sportswriter and former Orioles scorekeeper, dies James Albert Zitzer Sr., electrical designer, dies Sally B. Gold, attorney and 'fierce defender of the underrepresented,' dies Mr. Curran put the farm into land preservation under the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation. After 15 years of living on the farm, Mr. Curran and his wife pursued another dream. They lived for a year in London's West Hampstead and then resided in Prague for five years. 'My father loved European cities, their trains and stations. He also appreciated the government support for the arts, local markets, historic centers and neighborhoods,' his daughter said. 'He applied the perspective of a city planner, thinking about what made places livable and vibrant.' While in Europe, the couple traveled by train, gardened and attended concerts. Mr. Curran was a devotee of the operas of the Czech composer Leoš Janáček. He gardened with the Mount Washington Arboretum and the Mount Washington Community Garden on Rogers Avenue. He attended the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Peabody Institute concerts. Survivors include his wife of 63 years, Anne Curran, a teacher and vice principal; a daughter, Joyce Holbrook, of Upperco; a brother, James Curran, of Hailey, Idaho; and two grandchildren. Have a news tip? Contact Jacques Kelly at and 410-332-6570.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Yahoo
One year anniversary of re-opening of Piedmont Augusta's Summerville Campus
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – It has been one year since Piedmont's Summerville campus reopened after being closed for four years. Piedmont Augusta's Summerville campus reopened last May with the goal of continuing to bring the best care to people in the community. 'This isn't just reopening a hospital,' said Nic Wood, the Executive Director, Piedmont Augusta Summerville and McDuffie. 'We've put a lot of investment into this facility to ensure that patients that come here are getting the same level and standard of care that you would get at our Piedmont Augusta facility.' ALSO ON WJBF: Augustans share frustrations navigating downtown road construction on Telfair Street ahead of summer events Since re-opening a year ago, the hospital has added an in-patient hospice program, moved the substance abuse rehab program to the Summerville campus, and opened and upgraded the MRI unit. 'It's crazy to think that it's already been a year, but it's just been so wonderful to see the community really welcome us to being back open and being able to serve the Augusta community,' said Wood. Piedmont leaders say they continue to look for ways to add to the campus and help meet the community's needs. 'This is a wonderful way to cap off Healthcare week,' said Lily Henson, CEO, Piedmont Augusta Hub. 'Being able to open up this campus and see it thrive is that it fulfils our Piedmont promise of making a positive difference in every life we touch.' They want to focus on growing and improving the emergency and radiology department, in-patient services, and continue their partnership with Augusta Tech. 'One day, we were sitting down looking at our numbers, and it really hit us as we looked across the Augusta Community, all of the ERs were completely full, and there was one day where we saw 69 patients here, and if we weren't open. I pose the question, ' Where would those patients have gone?' said Wood. Going forward, Piedmont hopes to grow the services on this campus and maintain patient-centered care. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Boston Globe
14-04-2025
- Boston Globe
Mass General Brigham doctors press hospital leaders to stand up to Trump's Harvard threats
This is the first time that MGB, the state's largest health system, has gotten public pressure from its own employees to resist federal funding threats. 'Appeasement has never been a successful strategy, and it is not one now,' the employees said in the letter, which organizers began circulating via e-mail on Friday. 'Institutions that comply with these demands are not spared — they are only asked to give up more. What does our mission mean — what do our values truly mean — if we comply instead of standing up for what is right?' Dr. Marjorie Curran, a pediatrician at Mass General for Children who helped write the letter, said she has no doubt that leaders of the state's biggest health system want to preserve its mission. But she feels they have been conspicuously silent in the two weeks since the Trump administration announced it was reviewing $9 billion in federal funding to Harvard and then issued a list of demands. Advertisement 'The stuff that [the Trump administration is] doing is directly threatening public health and is going to be causing death,' Curran said in an interview. 'We need to be yelling from the rooftops that this needs to stop.' Advertisement MGB is the largest private employer in the state, with about 82,000 workers. Its flagship hospitals, Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, last year together Curran said the letter went to Dr. Anne Klibanski, chief executive of MGB; Dr. David Brown, president of MGB's academic medical centers; Dr. Marcela del Carmen, president of MGH; Dr. William Curry, chief medical officer of the academic medical centers; and Dr. O'Neil A. Britton, chief integration officer of MGB. MGB didn't have an immediate response to the letter, according to Jessica Pastore, a spokesperson for the health system. Related : The Trump administration said on March 31 it was reviewing in an effort to 'root out antisemitism,' according to the government's antisemitism task force. The task force issued a list of demands three days later, including ending diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, implementing 'merit-based' admissions and hiring practices, cooperating with federal immigration authorities, and changing student disciplinary procedures. The task force didn't give Harvard a deadline. Trump and his allies contend the measures will help combat antisemitism on campus. They allege that Harvard failed to protect Jewish students from harassment during pro-Palestinian protests. The Trump administration said on March 31 it was reviewing federal funding for Harvard and its affiliates in an effort to 'root out antisemitism,' according to the government's antisemitism task force. Uncredited/Associated Press However, the letter, titled an 'MGB Call to Action,' said the demands are antithetical to the four stated pillars of the health system: patient care, cutting-edge research, education of the next generation of health care providers, and advocating for the communities MGB serves. Advertisement 'Rather than preemptively concede to executive orders that threaten our mission, we must mount a coordinated and courageous opposition,' the letter said. 'If we stand together — with our clinical and academic colleagues across the country — we can withstand this existential threat.' The letter said MGB must make it clear that it welcomes all patients and employees, regardless of race, gender, gender identity, religion, country of origin, sexual orientation, or economic status. Related : That flies in the face of The letter sent Monday also said MGB should defend the safety and effectiveness of vaccines. Without naming anyone, the letter referred to past public statements by the nation's health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., that measles shots could cause autism and that vitamins might protect people from the virus. 'An administration that promotes vaccine skepticism, revives debunked claims linking vaccines to autism, and recommends vitamin A for a disease declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000 must be called to account, and all clinicians should be free to do so,' the letter said. The vast majority of employees who signed the letter were physicians, but signatories also included nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and social workers. Related : Dr. Scott Hadland, chief of adolescent medicine at Mass General for Children and an expert on the treatment of addiction, said he signed it because he wants his patients and their families to know what MGB's values are. Advertisement 'I especially want the communities we serve here in Boston and New England to know that we are committed to eliminating health disparities, whether they're related to race, ethnicity, nationality, LGBTQ+ community membership, or socioeconomic status,' he said in a text message. In addition to urging MGB to enlist other teaching hospitals in a fight against the Trump administration, the letter called on leaders to 'file any needed legal challenges.' On Friday, two groups representing Harvard professors sued the administration in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, saying the threat to cut billions in federal funding for the university violates free speech and other First Amendment rights. The suit was filed by the American Association of University Professors and the Harvard faculty chapter of the group. Related : The letter sent to MGB leaders quoted Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel's 1986 Nobel Prize acceptance speech in which he said, 'There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.' Also on Monday, lawyers for Harvard said the school Read the full letter from MGB employees below: Jonathan Saltzman can be reached at
