Drinking weaker wine can reduce risk of cancers

London
Drinking wine with low concentration of alcohol can reduce the risk of some cancers, according to a UK-based organisation that works for prevention and control of cancer.

"In theory, a person drinking one large 250 ml glass of wine a night would have a 7 per cent lower risk of bowel cancer if they normally drank 10 per cent strength wine rather than 14 per cent," the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) said.

This is only a modest decrease of risk for an individual, the WCRF said adding for every 100 people who did it, one case of bowel cancer would be avoided. The organisation calculated the data using a 2007 report which looked at the evidence for a link between alcohol consumption and cancer, BBC reported.

While the detailed study only applied to bowel cancer, there was no reason to believe that the risk of other cancers linked to alcohol, such as throat, oesophageal and breast, would not respond in a similar way, the organisation said.

Stating that from a cancer prevention point of view it is best not to drink at all, Rachel Thompson, science programme manager for WCRF, said:"But we have to be realistic, and the fact is that many people in the UK enjoy a drink." Making this change might seem quite minor to do, but it could have a real impact on cancer risk. Beer drinkers could also expect similar benefits if they switched from premium strength to lower-alcohol brands," she said.

Dr Peter Sasieni from Queen Mary's University of London said,"while it was difficult to be precise about how a decision to change drinking lifestyle would affect individual cancer risk over the years, a move to lower-strength wines could offer protection."








Source: IndiaReport