Study Shows Wine Not So Healthy

03/09/2009

You may have heard about the health benefits of drinking wine, especially red wine. Now a Seattle study shows that red and white wine may actually increase breast cancer risk.

Polly Newcomb's research specialty is studying risk factors for cancer, including alcohol. She was intrigued by studies over the years that highlight the health benefits of red wine in reducing heart disease.

Newcomb: "I was particularly interested in wine consumption because personally, I favor red wine."

Newcomb is an epidemiologist at Seattle's Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. She wondered if red wine could reduce the risk of breast cancer, but she found just the opposite.

Newcomb: "In looking at this data, it made me more conscious of the risks associated with any alcohol consumption."

In other words, alcohol increases the risk of breast cancer. Newcomb also noticed more women have been drinking wine in the last decade. So she and her colleagues interviewed more than 6,300 women. They asked about their alcohol consumption and family health history. The results: Women who had more than a dozen drinks a week had a 24% increase in breast cancer, compared to non–drinkers. Newcomb advises that a woman who drinks should do so in moderation, no more than a glass a day.

Newcomb: "There are so many things that we can't change about how we lead our lives and what kind of genes we inherit from our parents. So here's an exposure that can be modified and everyone should be able to moderate their alcohol consumption."

Newcomb herself isn't giving up red wine, but she plans to moderate her alcohol intake. The study appears in this month's issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention. I'm Ruby de Luna, KUOW News.

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