Alcohol proven to increase women’s cancers
Some Christian denominations are very committed to temperance but there are those that permit their adherents to enjoy an occasional drink so some of our readers may be interested in the following study.
The Journal of the National Cancer Institute released a report in late February 2009 about results from the Million Women Study being conducted with UK women averaging age 55 years. After careful study of the lifestyle factors and patterns of cancer development over seven years they have confidently concluded that the more alcohol a woman drinks the more likely it is she will develop a cancer of the breast, liver or rectum.
The study found that even one drink per day, which has been the officially advised maximum for women in recent years, confers substantial risk. If the woman is also a tobacco smoker then she has additional risks for developing cancers of the mouth, pharynx, oesophagus, and larynx, as well. Compare that with the statistics for women who drink less: if they drink two drinks or less per week there is much less risk of their developing these cancers.
Alcohol is defined in this study to mean beer, wine or spirits, as it is the alcohol itself which is the risk factor. There was no difference between the cancer rates for wine, spirits, or beer drinkers, or women who drank them all: breast cancer increased by 12 percent with each additional daily drink. Overall the investigators estimated that up to 13 percent of cancers in UK women are caused by alcohol. There is no reason to think those same numbers would not be applicable in the Australian context.
What happened to the widely toasted health advantage for the heart of a drink everyday? That recommendation has not yet been withdrawn, but now has to be weighed against the proven deadliness of the alcohol. A drink may still be good for the blood vessels, and prevention of stroke and heart attack, while at the same time increasing the risk of a variety of cancers.
How wonderful it would be if we could lower the number of cancers developed by Australians each year through the preventative measure of avoiding alcohol! There would be much less physical suffering and emotional anguish, less breaking up of families, fewer work days lost, and less financial expense both personal, to the community and to the over-burdened health system.
Similar research has not emerged to prove connections between alcohol intake and men’s cancers, but there is no reason to think they don’t exist. It would clearly be advisable for women and men who do drink to consider cutting back on alcohol for all of these reasons.