JUST A FEW DRINKS A WEEK TIED TO BREAST CANCER

EVEN LOW LEVELS OF ALCOHOL BOOST
BREAST CANCER RISK, STUDY FINDS

washingtonpost.com - Even indulging in just a few drinks a week raises a woman’s risk of breast cancer, according to a large Harvard study released Tuesday.  The analysis of data collected from nearly 106,000 nurses over 28 years found that those who imbibed as sparingly as three to six glasses of wine or any other alcoholic drink per week were slightly more likely to develop breast cancer than teetotalers.  Although doctors have long known that women who drank more than about one drink a day were more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer, the new analysis marks the first clear evidence that even those who consume that amount or less are at increased risk.  The findings are the latest seemingly head-spinning medical advice about alcohol. For years, doctors advised that women could safely consume about a drink a day, which could be healthful by reducing their risk for heart attacks. Men could get away with two.

More than that has long been known to have more risks than benefits, especially for breast cancer among women. Scientists believe alcohol can cause breast cancer by hiking estrogen levels.  For the study, Wendy Y. Chen, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and her colleagues analyzed data collected from 105,986 women ages 30 to 55 who participated in the Nurses’ Health Study, an ongoing project scrutinizing a host of women’s health issues, between 1980 and 2008.  A total of 7,690 of the women were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. Those who consumed a low level of alcohol - about three to six glasses of wine a week - were 15 % more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer.  While alcohol consumption after menopause appeared to increase the risk more than drinking earlier in life, the overall average lifetime consumption appeared to be the most important, Chen said.

Women who drink just a few glasses of wine or beer a week have increased breast cancer risk, researchers said.  Alcohol raises estrogen levels, which play a role in the development of many breast tumors. The researchers estimate that if drinking really does promote breast cancer, it might be responsible for 10 % of all cases in the U.S.  Apart from the risk of cancer and many other diseases, alcohol is usually used to try to cure our problems by the method of forgetting them, but they are sill there when you are sober again.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Happiness based on the body is like the pleasure a person feels when he or she drinks a tingling soft drink. As long as there is tingle on the tongue, there is some pleasure. The pleasure is gone when the sensation stops. So in material life, we may feel some pleasure or happiness during a thrilling or stimulating experience, or when we forget whatever problems or troubles we may have. ...   We all know there can be many problems and concerns in life, and forgetting these problems can also be a form of happiness. To help reach this forgetfulness one may engage in the drinking of alcoholic beverages, taking drugs, or other diversionary activities. These can bring on a state of temporarily forgetting one’s problems, weaknesses, suffering, or fears.  If people resort too much to these forms of escape, however, their problems may actually increase. This is false happiness. It is temporary.

Stephen Knapp (Śrīpad Nandanandana dasa) :
“Toward World Peace: Seeing the Unity Between Us All”
Chapter Three:  “You Are Not Your Body”
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/toward_world_peace.htm
http://www.stephen-knapp.com  -  http://www.stephenknapp.info/