How Alcohol Rewires Your Brain and Increases Cancer Risk by 40%! The Alcohol Doctor, Dr. Sarah Wakeman

About this episode

Are you unknowingly damaging your brain and raising your cancer risk with just one drink? Discover the alarming truth about alcohol from Dr. Sarah Wakeman, what every adult needs to know now. Dr. Sarah Wakeman is senior medical director for substance use disorder at Mass General Brigham healthcare system, the number one research system in the U.S. She is also the Medical Director of the Mass General Hospital Addiction Consult Team and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.  She explains:  How alcohol is hijacking your dopamine system. Why no amount of alcohol is good for your brain. The shocking truth about moderate drinking. How doctors are failing addiction patients on a daily basis. Why 1 in 3 people will struggle with alcohol. 00:00 Intro 02:23 Sarah's Mission 02:52 Sarah's Education and Experience 03:40 Issues With Addiction Treatment in the Modern World 04:31 What Is Addiction? 05:48 What Things Are Capable of Being Addictive? 06:47 Physiological Dependence vs. Addiction 07:25 Scale of the Problem: Why Should People Care? 08:59 Is Society Getting Better or More Addicted? 09:32 Substance-Related Deaths During the Pandemic 10:22 What Drives People to Use Substances? 12:24 Substances' Effects on the Brain 14:29 Does Trauma at a Young Age Increase Addiction Risk? 16:36 The Opposite of Addiction Is Connection 18:11 Why Addiction Matters to Sarah 19:02 Living With a Family Member Struggling With Addiction 20:43 Who Is Sarah Trying to Save? 22:57 Change Happens When the Pain of Staying the Same Is Greater Than the Pain of Change 25:53 Misconceptions About Alcohol 28:15 Is There a Healthy Level of Alcohol Consumption? 28:50 Is One Drink a Day Safe for Health? 30:38 Link Between Moderate Drinking and Cancer 33:23 Types of Cancer Linked to Alcohol Consumption 34:51 Cancer Risk Among Heavy Drinkers 35:31 Heavy Drinking and Comorbidities as Cancer Risk Factors 36:20 How Alcohol Drives Cancer Mechanisms 38:00 Alcohol and Weight Gain 38:54 The Role of the Liver 42:07 Liver's Ability to Regenerate 46:37 How Alcohol Causes Brain Deterioration 47:23 Other Organs Affected by Alcohol 48:00 Alcohol's Impact on the Heart 49:08 Body Fat Percentage and Alcohol Tolerance 50:05 Does High Alcohol Tolerance Prevent Organ Damage? 50:46 What Is a Hangover? 52:14 Balancing the Risks and Benefits of Alcohol 53:47 Is Rehab Effective for Addiction? 56:50 Psychedelic Therapy for Addiction 57:36 GLP-1 Medications for Addiction Treatment 59:03 Ads 59:59 Celebrity Addictions 1:02:24 Stigma Around Addiction 1:04:41 Addiction Cases That Broke Sarah's Heart 1:12:43 Is Empathy Positive Reinforcement for Addicted Individuals? 1:15:34 Setting Boundaries With an Addicted Person 1:18:57 Motivational Interviewing to Support Recovery 1:22:19 Finding Motivation for Positive Change 1:26:03 Habits to Support Addiction Recovery 1:29:12 Ads 1:30:18 Can the Brain Recover From Addiction? 1:34:55 Unexpected Sources of Addictive Behavior 1:35:35 How Sarah Copes With Difficult Addiction Cases 1:37:10 Importance of Language Around Addiction 1:41:40 How Labels Limit People's Potential 1:46:05 Sarah's Upcoming Book You can find out more about Dr. Sarah’s profile, here: https://bit.ly/4mxu191  Ready to think like a CEO? Gain access to the 100 CEOs newsletter here: ⁠bit.ly/100-ceos-megaphone⁠ The 1% Diary is back - limited time only: https://bit.ly/3YFbJbt  The Diary Of A CEO Conversation Cards (Second Edition): https://g2ul0.app.link/f31dsUttKKb  Get email updates: https://bit.ly/diary-of-a-ceo-yt  Follow Steven: https://g2ul0.app.link/gnGqL4IsKKb Research document: https://stevenbartlett.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/DOAC-Dr-Sarah-Wakeman-Independent-Research-further-reading.pdf Sponsors: Ekster - https://partner.ekster.com/DIARYOFACEO with code DOACLinkedin Ads - https://www.linkedin.com/DIARY Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices