Too much drinking risky for cancer

William Atkins
Monday, 11 April 2011 22:36

Science - Health

An international study found that men and women who drink over the recommended amounts of alcohol each day had an increased risk from cancer, but that risk went away if they stayed within the daily recommended limit.

The study entitled 'Alcohol attributable burden of incidence of cancer in eight European countries based on results from prospective cohort study' was published on April 7, 2011, in the British Medical Journal (BMJ 2011; 342:d1584 doi: 10.1136/bmj.d1584).

Its authors are from the countries of Germany, Canada, Copenhagen, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The researchers looked at people from western Europe, specifically from Denmark, Germany, Greece, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom, to see if the consumption of alcohol, past or present, could lead to more risk of getting cancer.

All of the participants, 109,118 men and 254,870 women primarily from 37 to 70 years of age, were part of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study.

They found that men had about a 10% increased risk of getting cancer and women had about a 3% increased risk of getting cancer if they daily drank more than the upper limit in the recommended amount of alcohol consumed per day.

This upper (safe) limit is about two drinks per day for men (about 24 grams of alcohol, about two beers or glasses of wine) and one drink per day for woman (about 12 grams of alcohol, about one beer or glass of wine).

 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states, "According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, drinking in moderation is defined as having no more than 1 drink per day for women and no more than 2 drinks per day for men. This definition is referring to the amount consumed on any single day and is not intended as an average over several days." [CDC: "Alcohol and Public Health"]

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