Dr Brett Osborn, Section Chief of Neurosurgery at St. Mary’s Medical Center in Florida, has addressed a new advisory issued by US Surgeon General Dr Vivek Murthy.
On Friday (January 3), Dr Murthy raised the alarm about how alcohol can increase a person’s chances of developing cancer and is calling for alcoholic beverages to come with a health warning.
“This Advisory lays out steps we can all take to increase awareness of alcohol’s cancer risk and minimize harm.”
Now Dr Osborn has praised Dr Murthy’s recent advisory and said: “It’s about time.”
While some of the oldest people in the world have linked wine to their longevity, Dr Osborn insists that there aren’t any health benefits that come with drinking booze.
Alcohol has been linked to an increased risk of at least seven types of cancer (Getty Stock Image)
“I know the age-old adage that you can have a drink or two a day and it’s good for your heart – no, it’s not,” he told Fox News.
“It’s not good for your heart. It’s not good for your brain. It’s not good for your waistline.”
Dr Osborn has seen the damage it can cause to your brain firsthand.
“We know that people who drink have bad brains,” he said. “I actually operated on one two days ago.”
He was referring to a patient with alcoholism who had a fall in recent days, leading to a blood clot.
The clot required surgery, but Dr Osborn didn’t have an optimistic assessment for the man.
Dr Brett Osborn shared his concerns about alcohol and brain health (Fox News)
He said: “By virtue of the fact that he is an alcoholic… he’s going to do poorly.
“These patients, just in general, their organ systems in general, they’re dysfunctional, they’re malfunctioning. And ultimately, it portends to a bad outcome.”
While Dr Osborne is an advocate for abstaining from alcohol, he understands that people can’t just go cold turkey.
Instead, he’s urging people to try decrease their booze intake by 50 percent. That way, they can ‘gradually just taper off’.