Drinking Alcohol Regularly May Increase Your Risk of Breast Cancer

Alcohol may increase the risk of breast cancer. A new study confirms the chances of developing breast cancer increase by four times with the intake of each daily glass of wine or beer.

In this latest study, the researchers looked at 334,850 women between the ages of 35 and 70 from ten European countries in order to look at the connection between alcohol and breast cancer. Of all of the women examined, 11,576 were diagnosed with breast cancer over the course of the eleven-year monitoring study.

"A woman's average risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer increases by 4 percent with each addition 10 grams/day of alcohol," said Maria Dolores Chirlaque, one of the researchers, in a news release. "In other words, a daily intake of one glass of wine or beer-or less-would correspond to a risk value of 1. However, if we increase our intake to two daily glasses of wine or beer, our risk would rise by 4 percent."

With that said, the number of years of exposure to alcohol intake also influences a woman's risk of developing breast cancer. The longer a woman has been exposed to alcohol consumption, the greater a risk she has, especially if alcohol intake began before her first pregnancy.

"Alcohol intake is a breast cancer risk that can be changed by a personal decision to form healthy habits," said Chirlaque. "Hence, women must be advised and forewarned of a possibility they have to control this factor."

The findings reveal that there's a significant risk associated with alcohol intake. That said, women can also help reduce the risk of breast cancer with a healthy lifestyle that includes a normal body weight, moderate physical activity for at least 30 minutes a day, breastfeeding, and a diet that includes may plant-based foods.

The findings are published in the International Journal of Cancer.

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