3:50 AM
Anonymous
Women who drink just two glasses of wine a day are 50 per cent more likely to get br*ast cancer than those who don’t drink at all, a major study has found.
Even those who indulge in only three or four glasses of wine over an entire week – well within the Government’s recommended limits – are putting themselves at risk.
Researchers also warn that women who drink regularly in their 20s and 30s are far more likely to develop the illness in later life, regardless of whether they subsequently cut back.
The Government recommends that women should drink no more than 14 units a week, which is about seven medium glasses of wine or 14 measures of spirits.
But this study found that even half this amount – seven units a week – could raise the risk of br*ast cancer by 15 per cent.
And women who drank nearly four units daily – two glasses of wine – increased the likelihood by 50 per cent.
Researchers at Harvard University and Brigham And Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, looked at the records of 105,986 women aged 30 to 55 who completed surveys on their current drinking habits and how much they drank when they were younger.
Over a period of nearly 30 years they monitored how many of the women developed br*ast cancer.
Their findings, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, show that women who drank nearly four units a day were 50 per cent more at risk than teetotallers.
Those who drank less than this amount but at least two and a half units daily were 28 per cent more at risk.
Women who drank between just over one unit and two and a half units daily were 15 per cent more at risk.
The study also found that women who drank two and a half units a day for a period of five years at any point between the ages of 18 and 40 were a third more likely to get the illness, even if they later cut down.
Br*ast cancer is by far the most common form of the illness in women and statistics show that one in eight will develop it at some point in their lives. Around 48,000 new cases are diagnosed in the UK every year and the majority of sufferers are over 50.
Scientists think that alcohol raises levels of the female s*x hormone oestrogen, which is believed to trigger the growth of tumours.
Professor Karol Sikora, cancer specialist and medical director of the private cancer clinic company CancerPartnersUK, said: ‘The relationship between alcohol intake and br*ast cancer is very complex.
‘We’ve known for some years now that even small amounts of alcohol can change hormone patterns. But not all women are equally affected. This very large study from a much-respected source suggested that just a few glasses of wine a week increases br*ast cancer risk significantly throughout adult life.’
Sarah Williams, health information officer at Cancer Research UK, said: ‘This study adds to already strong evidence that drinking even small amounts of alcohol increases the risk of br*ast cancer.
‘Cutting down on alcohol can reduce the chance of developing br*ast cancer – as can keeping a healthy weight and being physically active.
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