A new study suggests that drinking just one glass of wine or one bottler of beer per day can lead to the development of various cancers.
Alcoholic beverages have been linked to liver cancer, larynx cancer, oesophageal cancer and colorectal cancer in the past, however previous studies have found that only excessive drinking can increase someone’s risk of developing the disease.
But now, the new study informs that even light drinking can give people cancer. The research team behind the project explained that a standard alcoholic beverage should not exceed 15g of alcohol. More often than not this translates into a glass of wine of 118 ml for women or a bottle of beer of 355 ml for men.
The researchers said that women who regularly consume one (1) alcoholic beverage each day and non-smoking men who regularly consume two (2) alcoholic beverages each day, only raise their risk of developing cancer ever so slightly.
But women who regularly consume just one (1) glass of wine each day raise their risk of developing breast cancer by at least 13 percent (13%). And men who smoke and consume no more than two (2) alcoholic beverages each day significantly raise their risk of developing any of the existing types of cancer.
For the study, a team of researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, the Women’s Hospital in Boston and Brigham examined the health histories of 47.881 men and 88.084 women.
They found that for every 1000 women, age 75 or younger, there were 11 extra breast cancer cases for each additional alcoholic beverage per day.
While this number may seem insignificant on paper, the researchers say that the large number of women who consume alcoholic beverages turn it into a real concern and a health threat worth making public.
Jürgen Rehm, doctor over at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (Toronto), offered a statement saying that “Light to moderate drinking should be limited to no more than 10g of pure alcohol a day for women and 20g for men”.
Sarah Williams, health information manager from Cancer Research UK, agreed and informed that “Cutting down on alcohol helps reduce the risk of cancer”.
And Sir Ian Gilmore, professor and chair of Alcohol Health Alliance (in the UK), gave an even more passionate statement explaining that the findings are powerful enough that we should start putting health warning on alcohol bottles.
He believes that the new study supports the idea that “no such thing as a safe level of drinking when it comes to the risk of cancer”.
Image Source: bcwineguysnelson.ca
