Niamh Shackleton
A neurosurgeon has shared the effects alcohol has on the brain after seeing it for himself.
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.
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"Alcohol is a well-established, preventable cause of cancer responsible for about 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the United States - greater than the 13,500 alcohol-associated traffic crash fatalities per year in the US - yet the majority of Americans are unaware of this risk," he said in a statement.
"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.
"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.
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'.
Dr Osborn went on: "I don't want it in my practice. I don't want it for my patients. I don't use it myself. It's bad. Get rid of it."
If you've been affected by addiction and want to speak to someone in confidence, you can call American Addiction Centers on (888) 324-0595, available 24/7, or contact them through their website.