woman_wine.pngWell this is just disappointing news for me! I am not a heavy drinker but do enjoy a glass of wine 2 or 3 days a week. I had hoped that the study would tell me that alcohol in excess caused breast cancer but it didn’t.

Seriously, drinking wine is such a pleasure and should be an ejoyable experience. Knowing that I might be increasing my chances of breast cancer just takes the enjoyment right out of it. Isn’t it always the way though. The things we love like alcohol and food (usually the bad kind) are doing us no favours. I wish I could be one of those people who don’t like food or liquid but just consume it to stay alive!

Anyway, the following details what they have found out about alcohol and breast cancer:

The evidence seems pretty conclusive as well. Test conducted on mice have shown that moderate alcohol consumption stimulates the growth and progression of breast cancer by fueling the development of new blood vessels — a process called “angiogenesis.”

A recent study found that 60% of breast cancer cases in women worldwide were attributable to alcohol consumption.

Over a period of 4 weeks, female mice ( 6-weeks old) consumed regular drinking water or water containing 1 percent alcohol, which is equivalent to about 2 to 4 drinks in humans. In week 2, the animals were inoculated with mouse breast cancer cells.

After 4 weeks that breast tumor size almost doubled in mice that drank alcohol compared to control mice given plain water. Moderate alcohol intake also caused an increase in tumor blood vessels compared with no alcohol intake.

Significant increases in VEGF levels in the tumors of mice consuming alcohol compared to the tumors of control mice. VEFG is known to promote the formation of new blood vessels suggesting that alcohol can induce tumors.

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