Unless you live under a rock, you probably heard today about the report today coming from the Journal of the National Cancer Institute looking at 1.3 million women in England at mid-life, between the years 1996 and 2001 who were attending cancer screening clinics. They examined the effect of light to moderate alcohol consumption on the risk of developing cancer. The average amount of alcohol ingested was one drink of any type a day and they found a significant increase of several types of malignancies. The most striking increase was found in 11 additional cases of breast cancer per 1000 women over women who did not consume any alcohol at all. In addition, the investigators found increases in other cancers including, mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, colorectal and liver in both sexes. Most of the previous studies looking at the association of alcohol and cancer involved men who were drinking heavily. This study is made so powerful by the shear magnitude of the subjects studied, over one million people and the length of the study, 7.2 years. if one looks at these individuals and break down the cancers according to type and percentage, the data look like this: Breast (12%, P<0.001), Oral cavity and pharynx (29%, P<0.001 for trend), Esophagus (22%, P=0.002), Larynx (44%, P=0.008), Rectum (10%, P=0.02), Liver (24%, P=0.03), Total cancer (6%, P=0.03).
The authors who were at the University of Oxford concluded that there is no safe amount of alcohol to consume as far as cancer risk is concerned. But other studies have shown that there are significant benefits as far as the cardiovascular system and cognitive functioning are concerned. So we must consider the possibility that even moderate drinking can increase our cancer risk in many of the body's organ systems and if you are a person who is at higher than normal risk of developing cancer because of a family or personal history, you may want to think carefully about whether you chose to drink. My personal opinion is that for the average healthy mid-life individual who is not at high risk for cancer, having a glass of wine or a beer a day as an accompaniment to a meal or at a celebration is a reasonable and healthy behavior. As my mother always said, "everything in moderation" is a good philosophy to adopt.
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