April is Alcohol Awareness Month. This is the perfect time to lower or eliminate your consumption to improve your health and reduce your risk of developing dangerous diseases.
Risky substance avoidance is one of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine’s six pillars of good health. Alcohol disrupts your sleep and poses dangers to your liver, gut, heart, brain and many other organs. It also makes you more vulnerable to diseases and increases the risk of several health conditions, including high blood pressure and stroke. In 2025 the U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory stating that it was the third leading preventable cause of cancer in this country. Alcohol consumption results in a higher risk of developing at least seven forms of cancer. The types of cancer linked to alcohol, according to this advisory, include cancers of the colorectum, breast, esophagus, liver, throat, mouth and voice box.
The advisory also warned that the link between cancer and alcohol is true for all types of alcohol and that the risk for some of these cancers can increase with just one or fewer daily drinks. In other words, moderate drinking (one alcoholic drink per day for women and two for men) is still not safe.
If you consume a moderate amount of alcohol, try to reduce the amount. You can start small: if you currently consume one alcoholic drink per day, cut out one of the days. If you have a routine of going out with friends to a bar for a couple nights each week, convert one of those days into a meal or activity, such as a game, movie, sport or walk. Remember that doing so will not only help your own health, but theirs. Social connections are also a pillar of good health. Work to keep one another healthy so that preventable illnesses don’t stop you from enjoying each other’s company. Simply altering a routine can make a big difference over time.
If you think you have an alcohol use disorder or have concerns about your alcohol use, take advantage of one/more of the many resources available to assist you, all of which are focused on assistance, not judgment:
• The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is always available for those who are in immediate crisis (call, text or chat).
• There is a crisis hotline specific to veterans: dial 988, then 1 or text 838255.
• The peer-support model of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) has been beneficial to many people with addiction. You can find a meeting guide on their website (aa.org) that will help you find a location for a regular gathering near you.
• The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has a 24/7 hotline for treatment referrals in English and in Spanish: 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
• Sandra Eskenazi Mental Health Center Adult Addiction Services provides outpatient care and treatment for clients with addiction to alcohol as well as other addictions. You can call their access line at 317-880-8491 to set up an appointment.
• Sandra Eskenazi Mental Health Care for Recovery at Eskenazi Health Center services are also available (eskenazihealth.edu/mental-health/mental-health-care-within-eskenazi-health-center). These services, which are available through Eskenazi Health’s neighborhood health centers, include linkage to primary care providers, board-certified addiction providers, licensed substance use therapists, peer recovery coaches, social workers, medication-assisted treatment and group therapy. You can call an access coordinator for Sandra Eskenazi Mental Health Care for Recovery at Eskenazi Health Center at 317-880-8787.
W hether you are trying to recover from addiction or to reduce your consumption of alcohol for your health, you don’t have to do so without assistance. Your primary care provider can walk you through strategies and can motivate you by discussing alcohol’s effects on your own health conditions.
There are many aspects of our health we have no control over; this is one we can do something about. Take a step toward a healthier life this month by cutting down on or eliminating your use of alcohol.
Ananda Kannappan, M.D., primary care physician and Lifestyle Medicine practitioner with Eskenazi Health Center Grande