Health

Alcohol Could Increase Breast Cancer Risk

Study Followed Post-Menopausal Women For Seven Years

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― A little alcohol might be good for your heart, but it could be bad for your breasts.

Women who had one drink a day had a 7 percent increased risk of breast cancer compared to non-drinkers. Two small drinks a day increased the risk by 32 percent and three drinks by 51 percent.

This comes from a study of more than 184,000 post-menopausal women followed for an average of seven years.

"It may not be a direct effect of the alcohol. It may be some of the other associated behaviors," like smoking, not exercising and unhealthy eating, Dr. Jane Raymond, an oncologist with Allegheny General Hospital, said.

Specifically with alcohol, the risk goes up for the type of breast cancer that is sensitive to hormones.

Some people drink for alcohol's heart benefits, but to Dr. Raymond, it's not a matter of choosing one organ over the other.

"To say you can't have that glass of wine because you may increase the risk of breast cancer doesn't address the issue of quality of life," she said. "I that believe everything in moderation."

Another study presented at the meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research focused on breast cancer risk and its link to genes involved with how the body processes alcohol.
 
Both of the studies do not prove a cause-and-effect, but they point to a pattern that will need to be explained through other research.

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