SINGLE DRINK DOUBLES WOMEN'S BREAST CANCER RISK

ONE DAILY GLASS OF WINE 'CAN DOUBLE RISK'
DRINKING ALCOHOL LINKED TO BREAST CANCER

The Times of India - A new U.S. study has revealed that women who drink just one alcoholic drink a day are at a twofold risk of developing breast cancer than their teetotaller counterparts. Drinking alcohol or alcoholic beverages boosts the risk of lobular and hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, but not necessarily invasive ductal carcinomas. To understand how alcohol may influence sub-types of breast cancer, Christopher I. Li, and colleagues at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center conducted an observational study of a subset of patients in the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study, conducted between 1993 and 1998, which included 87,724 postmenopausal women aged 50-79 years. The researchers looked at the following data from the 2,944 women in the WHI study who developed invasive breast cancer: tumor subtypes and hormone status, alcohol consumption, demographic and lifestyle characteristics, family history of diseases and reproductive history. Women were categorized as those who never drank, those who formerly drank and those who currently drank. Drinkers were grouped into six categories according to the average number of drinks per week, starting from less than one drink per week to more than 14 drinks per week.

The researchers found that alcohol use is more strongly related to the risk of lobular carcinoma than ductal carcinoma, and more strongly related to hormone-receptor- positive breast cancer than hormone-receptor-negative breast cancer. "We found that women who drank one or more drinks per day had about double the risk of lobular type breast cancer, but no increase in their risk of ductal type breast cancer," the authors said. "It is important to note that ductal cancer is much more common than lobular cancer accounting for about 70 per cent of all breast cancers whereas lobular cancer accounts for only about 10-15 per cent of cases," they added. The study has been published August 23 online in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute.


Reduce alcohol consumption certainly decrease the risk of cancer, but experts say that there are multiple factors that cause breast cancer in women; so it is probably that alcohol is not the only factor at play here. Doctors advised women to maintain a healthy weight, drank less alcohol and took more exercise. Anyway, drinking alcohol is an addiction and its intake is associated with many different diseases, so it is always advisable to refrain from doing so.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

The Mahabharata tells us that addiction to hunting, dice playing, women, and wine are the four things that lead to a man’s downfall. These four activities translate into the pillars of sinful life; meat eating, gambling, illicit sex, and intoxication. ... Intoxication is one of the more obvious sinful activities because so many people develop addictions to it. Whether it be alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, or caffeine, addiction to intoxication is very common. ... These regulative principles may seem difficult, but why not give them a try? Don’t be discouraged if you are not successful right away. The easiest way to refrain from these activities is to always keep yourself engaged in God’s service wherever you are and whatever you may be doing. Keep chanting “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare” and you will be guaranteed of success.

Krishna’s Mercy - Jai Shri Krishna :
“The Four Regulative Principles” - Posted on Feb 15, 2009
http://www.krishnasmercy.org/dotnetnuke/
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