'Misleading' Information from Drinks’ Industry Over Cancer and Alcohol
Alcohol and cancer: new study points to drinks’ industry “misinformation”; why the number of HIV infections is rising in Chile; how squid ink could help spot gum disease
Drinking alcohol - particularly in large amounts - increases our risk of developing various conditions including cancer. Alcohol industry websites display information about those risks – but how much can we rely on them? An international team of public health experts has reviewed the information available – and found that it doesn’t always tell the whole story and sometimes key facts are distorted or left out. Their analysis is published in the journal Drug And Alcohol Review, revealing findings the alcohol industry is not happy with.
In most countries in Latin America, the number of people being diagnosed with HIV is dropping. But in Chile there’s been a 45% increase in new cases over the last five years. The vast majority of those are in the gay community, but others at risk include indigenous Mapuche people.
A visit to the dentist and some Japanese food were the inspiration behind an idea which could improve our dental health. Healthy gums cling to our teeth – but with gum disease, a pocket can form around the tooth. A thin tool is used to measure this “pocket”. But monitoring the health of our gums could be less invasive, by detecting the light-absorbing properties of squid ink using ultrasound.
(Photo: Woman holding a bottle. Credit: Getty Images)
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Squid ink to detect gum disease
Duration: 03:04
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- Wed 13 Sep 2017 19:32GMT˿ World Service except News Internet
- Thu 14 Sep 2017 02:32GMT˿ World Service Americas and the Caribbean
- Thu 14 Sep 2017 04:32GMT˿ World Service except Americas and the Caribbean, East and Southern Africa, News Internet & West and Central Africa
- Thu 14 Sep 2017 06:32GMT˿ World Service East and Southern Africa
- Thu 14 Sep 2017 13:32GMT˿ World Service Australasia
- Sat 16 Sep 2017 23:32GMT˿ World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
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