A study of 185, 000 post menopausal women from the University of Chicago – one of the largest of its kind – suggests that just two glasses of wine a day can increase the risk of breast cancer by more than a half. A single glass of wine a day raises the risk by almost a third.

The study which was presented at the American Association for Cancer Research’s annual conference in San Diego revealed a close link between drinking patterns and the development of the most common form of breast cancer – a form that is fuelled by the sex hormone oestrogen. It is thought that alcohol stops the liver from breaking down oestrogen, the hormone that can fuel breast cancer. The link applied to wine, beer and spirits but beer raised the threat slightly more than wine and wine proved more dangerous than spirits. Overall women who had more than one alcoholic drink a day were seven percent more likely to develop breast cancer than those who were non drinkers. Two drinks raised the risk by 22 per cent and three increased the risk by 51 per cent.

 

This study adds to the growing evidence that links alcohol to a disease which kills more than a thousand women a month and experts believe that alcohol may be the main reason why rates of breast cancer are surging in the UK. Drinking is also blamed for increasing numbers of women suffering fertility problems.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 at 4:40 am and is filed under Breast Cancer, In the News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.