Posted: Saturday, March 07 2009. 10:43

Wine good for cancer, bad for cancer

The Oxford study published in the  March 4 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, examined the rates of cancer among more than 1.28 million women, ages 50 to 64, in UK and compared the rates of cancer across weekly drinking habits. They found that any level of alcohol consumption is linked to a higher risk of cancer of the pharynx, esophagus, larynx, rectum, liver and breast. The risk increased for each drink per day.

While past studies have shown a possible connection between breast cancer and alcohol, little is known about the effect of alcohol on risks of other cancers in women.

The women who agreed for screenings across the U.K. from 1996 to 2001 filled out questionnaires on weekly drinking habits, smoking habits and socio-demographic information.

For the purposes of the study, a single drink was defined as containing an average of 10 grams of alcohol per 100 mL. That translates to roughly a 5-ounce glass of wine (1/5 of a bottle), 300 mL of beer or 30 mL of spirits. Beverage preference was recorded—30 percent of the women reported drinking only wine and 47 percent drinking a mixture of other alcoholic beverages.

The researchers found that the rate of cancer increased the more the women drank each week and concluded that alcohol is a factor in about 11 percent of breast cancer cases, 22 percent of liver cancer cases, 9 percent of rectal cancer cases and 25 percent of mouth and throat cancers, says a comprehensive report in Wine Spectator.

Britain's NHS, which sets recommendations of daily alcohol intake, issued a statement affirming its current guidelines for women who drink: Avoid binge drinking and consume no more than two to three units per day. The NHS also questioned whether the study followed the women long enough.

On the other hand a study conducted by the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in San Francisco on over a thousand men and women and reported in Telegraph found that the moderate consumption of red or white wine reduced by 56% the risk of developing Barrett's Esophagus, an untreatable condition that can lead to esophageal cancer.

It is caused by prolonged heartburn and triggers pre cancerous cells in the tube that extends from throat to the stomach.

Gastroenterologist Dr Douglas Corley, of the Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Centre, said: "We already knew red wine was good for the heart, so perhaps here is another added benefit of a healthy lifestyle and a single glass of wine a day." The study has found that beer or spirits had no beneficial effects.

People with Barrett's Esophagus have up to a forty-fold higher risk of developing oesophageal adenocarcinoma, a particular type of gullet cancer.

Australian researchers also found people who drank wine were at a lower risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma, and an Irish team showed moderate wine drinkers suffered less esophagitis, an irritation of the gullet that often precedes cancer.

Researchers are not certain why wine prevents Barrett's Esophagus and esophageal cancer.

For more details on Barrett’s esophagus click here.

According to Dr. Curtis Ellison of The Institute of Lifestyle & Health at Boston University School of Medicine, it had been discovered from the earlier studies on the effect of wine on heart and health had shown that drinking beyond a glass a day increased the chance of breast cancer by 10% for women. But the effect would be neutralised for women who supplemented their diets with follates regularly. His colleagues at the School call the study an "important paper" but lament the lack of diversity in the method used for gathering data.

The conclusion of both studies is that more studies need to be carried out. In the meanwhile, consumption of wine in moderation is recommendable, just as the governmental health bodies in the US, UK and Denmark etc recommend: two glasses a day for men and one glass for women- editor