A new study in the current edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute changes completely what we knew about alcohol and human health. Previous studies have shown that alcohol, consumed in moderate amounts, is benefic for the heart and not only. The new study appears to contradict previous research showing that even moderate alcohol consumption is risky for us, as it increases cancer risk.

                  

The finding is based on the Million Women Study, which involved information from 1.28 million women ages 50 to 64. Over more than seven years of follow up, 68,775 women developed cancer. Twenty-four percent of the women reported no alcohol consumption.

 

The study found that moderate alcohol consumption accounts for 13 percent of breast, liver, rectum and upper respiratory/digestive tract cancers among women.

 

“There were no minimum levels of alcohol consumption that could be considered to be without risk,” cancer epidemiologist and study researcher Naomi Allen, DPhil, of the University of Oxford, said.

 

Surprisingly, there were some cancers that were avoided by drinking a small amount of alcohol, such as thyroid cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and renal cell carcinoma (the main type of kidney cancer).

 

Allen said that although the study is based only on women, the findings could apply to men as well. How these findings will influence people? That’s a question everybody will answer on its own. My opinion is that habits are hard to change. Imagine some guys drinking water while watching a football game. How weird is that?