According To A New Study Drinking 3-6 Alcoholic Beverages A Week Could Lead To Breast Cancer

Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital looked at the correlation between breast cancer and alcohol consumption in nearly 106,000 women during a 28-year span.

During that time, 14 percent of the women were diagnosed with breast cancer, and the results indicated that drinking three to six alcoholic drinks per week was associated with a 15 percent increased risk of the disease.

The study appears in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.

“What these researchers were able to determine is that even small or moderate levels of alcohol consumption, three drinks a week, is associated with a higher chance of breast cancer,” said Dr. Joe Crowe of the Cleveland Clinic, who was not a part of this study.

“It really is the alcohol consumption over a period of time. It’s not the frequency of consumption. So, you can have a little bit on a frequent basis, and the total amount isn’t very much. It’s the total amount that matters.”

The study also found that women who drank at least two drinks a day had a 51 percent increased risk of breast cancer compared to those who never drank. The risk is increased by 10 percent for every 10 grams of alcohol consumed daily. That's equal to a little less than one 12-ounce bottle of beer, a 4-ounce glass of wine or a shot of whiskey. The increasingly elevated risks were a little higher than seen in other research. It made no difference whether the women drank liquor, beer and wine.
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