Alcohol’s Close Association with Breast Cancer

Are all Alcoholic Beverages Harmful?

Yes! So don’t assume that switching to beer or spirits is the solution. According to Wendy Y. Chen, MD, PhD, a cancerdefine specialist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, “The more alcohol consumed on a regular basis, the greater the risk.” Although the risk of getting breast cancer may be affected by a host of factors, limiting the number of drinks you have in a day can definitely reduce the risk. This is one thing that you can surely try your hand at, because it is never too late to change your drinking habits.

More you drink, More Likely You Are to Develop Breast Cancer?

The biology behind the relationship between alcohol consumption and an augmented risk of getting breast cancer is the production of estrogen. Alcohol is said to interfere with the way human body metabolizes estrogen. Studies have revealed that the hormone estrogen is responsible for causing some breast cancers. Hence, the risk associated with the consumption of alcohol tends to increase as the quantity and the duration of alcohol consumption increases.

According to the findings of a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, that tracked the health and alcohol consumption patterns of 122,000 cancer free women, since 1976, after every 4 years - by the year 2002, and nearly 6000 of them had developed breast cancer. The study further revealed that as compared to teetotalers:
• Women who drank the equivalent of a half glass of wine a day were 6 percent more likely to develop breast cancer.
• Women who drank a glass or two a day faced a 21 percent increased risk of breast cancer.
• Those who drank more than two drinks a day were 37 percent more likely to develop breast cancer.

Greater Risk for Menopausal women

Consumption of alcohol, while women are going through their menopausal phase, subjects them to a greater risk of developing breast cancer in the subsequent years. According to the conclusions drawn by the study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (also mentioned above), the chance of developing breast cancer among monopausal women who drank even half a glass of wine every day, increased by about 18 percent, thus establishing a strong relationship between alcohol consumption and breast cancer in menopausal women. This risk becomes all the more pronounced in women who are undergoing hormonal therapy post menopause.

Some Good Alternative

Here is the good news. Ladies, you might not need to give up your booze after all. Researchers in Germany have come up with an anti-cancer beer. The cancer fighting substance found in hops is now being incorporated to brew a special kind of beer, rich in antioxidantsdefine that would in fact be quite safe health-wise and even otherwise.

‘Xanthohumol’,a special ingredient of hops inhibits the growth of a family of enzymes called cytochromes P4, that can cause cancer and also assist the body in detoxifying carcinogens, thus stalling the tumor growth at an early stage. Initial studies at Oregon State University also show that xanthohumol could restrict breast as well as colondefine, prostrate and ovarian cancers. That’s not all; it is also found to help prevent post menopausal hot flashes and osteoporosis. Scientists are now struggling to find ways of increasing the concentration of the wonder substance, xanthohumol in beer and also incorporating it in other foods like chocolates.

Let’s look forward to the day when we could all toast a glass of alcohol ‘to our health’…

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