Alcohol ups breast cancer risk
Women who consume alcoholic beverages even in small amounts have an increased risk of developing breast cancer compared with non-drinkers.
Several studies have shown that heavy alcohol use significantly increases breast tumor risk but researchers have found new evidence suggesting that drinking even in small doses is associated with higher risk of developing breast cancer.
The study, which followed 105,986 women for about 28 years showed drinking as few as three to six small glasses of wine per week may increase a woman’s lifetime risk of breast cancer by 15 percent.
Among the studied people who never drank, there were 281 breast cancers per 100,000 women every year while the cases increased to 333 cancers for women who drank three to six glasses of wine per week and even to 413 for those who consumed more than 19 glasses.
According to the findings published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), breast cancer risk increased by 10 percent for every 10 grams of alcohol consumed daily.
“Although the exact mechanism for the association between alcohol consumption and breast cancer is not known, one probable explanation would involve alcohol’s effects on circulating oestrogen levels,” said lead author Dr. Wendy Chen from Harvard Medical School.
Source: presstv.com
