Alcohol can increase risk for 6 types of cancer; Risk of heart defects higher in IVF babies; 1 in 3 children are short-sighted – Morning Medical Update

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Alcohol can increase risk for 6 types of cancer

A recent report from the American Association for Cancer Research found overconsumption of alcohol can increase the risk of six different types of cancer, including breast, colorectal, liver, stomach, certain types of head and neck cancer, and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

“Some of this is happening through chronic inflammation,” Céline Gounder, CBS News medical contributor and editor-at-large for public health at KFF Health News, said. “We also know that alcohol changes the microbiome, so those are the bacteria that live in your gut, and that can also increase the risk.”

Medical professionals are now advising to limit alcohol consumption in large or frequent amounts, as well as with smoking, and to avoid other risk factors such as excess body weight and physical inactivity and diet.

Risk of heart defects higher in IVF babies

New research from the European Heart Journal, which included more than seven million Nordic children, provided evidence that IVF is associated with a small but significant rise in birth abnormalities, such as heart defects.

The risk of a major heart defect was 36% higher in the group of children studied from 1984 to 2015 than in children who were naturally conceived. However, less than 2% of infants conceived through IVF were born with heart defects. The risk of a defect also didn’t change based on whether the parents went through ICSI, a procedure in which sperm is injected into an egg, or IVF, which allows the sperm to penetrate the egg naturally in a lab dish.

Britt Wennerholm, the senior author of the paper and a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, said she hopes the new data will lead to a drop in heart defects as parents determine with fertility treatments to use.

1 in 3 children are short-sighted

In the British Journal of Ophthalmology, a new study reports that short-sightedness, or myopia, is a growing global health concern set to affect millions more children by 2050. The highest rates of short-sightedness were in Asia, with 85% of children in Japan and 73% in South Korea being short-sighted. The study also found that short-sightedness tripled between 1990 and 2023, rising to 36%.

Researchers suggest that COVID lockdowns had a negative impact on eyesight, as children spent more time on screens and less time outdoors. They also believe that the increase is a result of genetics and that some children start their education at younger ages in places like Singapore and Hong Kong, usually spending more time focusing on books and screens and straining their eyes in the process.

Now, experts believe children should spend at least two hours outside every day, particularly those between the ages of 7 and 9, to reduce short-sightedness. Children should also get their eyes checked regularly, starting between the ages of seven and 10.