Daily drink called risk for women
Chances increase for many cancers, study concludes
WASHINGTON - For years, many women have been cheered by the news about one of their guilty little pleasures: That nightly glass of wine may not only take the edge off their day, but also help them live longer. But now, another study says that sipping that glass of pinot noir may not be such a good idea after all.
A new study involving nearly 1.3 million middle-age British women - the largest study ever to examine alcohol and cancer in women - found that just one glass of chardonnay, a single beer, or any other type of alcoholic drink per day significantly increases the risk of a variety of cancers.
"That's the take-home message," said Naomi Allen of the University of Oxford, who led the study being published next week in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. "If you are regularly drinking even one drink per day, that's increasing your risk for cancer."
Understandably, the study may leave many women scratching their heads, given all the talk about red wine being protective.
"I thought drinking wine was good for you," said Mirella Romansini, 27, of Chevy Chase, Md., outside a liquor store in Northwest Washington. "Now they are saying it increases your risk for cancer? Yes, I would say I'm surprised."
Romansini is hardly alone. At least half of US women drink sometimes, and even the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the government's official bible, say alcohol can have "beneficial" effects, allowing women as much as one drink a day. Men get two.
Confused? It turns out the guidelines were never intended to recommend that anyone drink for health. Yes, it's true that studies have indicated that moderate drinking may cut the risk of heart disease and other ailments. And researchers have identified a substance in red wine that could offer a host of benefits.
But officials have long worried about sending the wrong message, giving people who take extraordinary risks if they drink - young people, pregnant women, those prone to alcoholism - permission to abuse alcohol. As a result, officials have tried to walk a fine line between acknowledging the possible benefits of alcohol and encouraging people to start drinking. The guidelines were intended to set an upper limit on what might be safe, not a recommended daily dose.
"It's a level of consumption that generally has been found in scientific studies to be associated with a relatively low risk of harms," said Robert Brewer of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "But low risk does not mean no risk."
In fact, many previous studies have found that alcohol appears to increase the risk of breast cancer, and that heavy drinking could make men and women prone to other cancers as well.
The reason alcohol increases the risk for cancer is not entirely clear, but there are several possibilities, including that it enables carcinogens to do their damage, increases inflammation, or, in the case of breast cancer, boosts estrogen levels.
Some researchers worried the findings would unnecessarily frighten women and deprive them of the possible health benefits of an occasional drink.
"We can't use this to scare people away from alcohol," said Eric Rimm of the Harvard School of Public Health.
