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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- How much women drink can put them more at risk for breast cancer, no matter what kind alcoholic beverage they choose.
A new Kaiser Permanente study reveals it makes no difference whether a woman drinks wine, beer, or liquor -- it is the alcohol itself and the quantity consumed increasing the risk of breast cancer. And the increased risk from having three or more alcoholic drinks a day is similar to the increased risk from smoking a pack of cigarettes or more each day.
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Researchers looked at the drinking habits of 70,033 multi-ethnic women who had given their information during health examinations between 1978 and1985. By 2004, 2,829 of them were diagnosed with breast cancer.
The report finds there was no difference between wine, beer or liquor in the risk of developing breast cancer. But when it came to the relationship between breast cancer risk and total alcohol intake, results show women who had one to two alcoholic drinks a day increased their risk of breast cancer by 10 percent compared to those who had less than one drink a day. The risk increased by 30 percent in women who had more than three drinks a day, which could translate into an extra 5 percent of women developing the disease due to their habit.
Researchers report, while light-moderate drinking can protect against heart attacks, the benefits -- higher HDL (good) cholesterol, reduced blood clotting, and reduced diabetes -- are not known to have anything to do with breast cancer.
Study authors conclude their findings provide more evidence for why heavy drinkers should quit or cut down.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: European Cancer Conference (ECCO 14) in Barcelona, Spain, September 23-27, 2007
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