Wednesday, 26 August 2015

Just one or two drinks a day could increase risk for certain cancers

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism define light to moderate alcohol consumption as up to one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men. But according to new research published in The BMJ, even this level of alcohol consumption can increase cancer risk.

Women drinking
Researchers found women who drank up to one alcoholic beverage daily were at greater risk of certain cancers - particularly breast cancer - regardless of smoking history.
Previous studies have associated heavy drinking with greater risk of certain cancers, including breast, colon, liver and mouth cancers.
But according to Prof. Edward Giovannucci and colleagues, from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, MA, there is limited evidence on how light to moderate drinking impacts cancer risk.
What is more, the researchers note there has been little research on how alcohol consumption affects cancer risk independent of smoking. Smoking is a well-established risk factor for many alcohol-related cancers, and because drinkers are more likely to smoke, the authors say smoking may have been a confounding factor in previous studies linking alcohol consumption with cancer risk.
As such, Prof. Giovannucci and colleagues set out to assess the association between light to moderate drinking and cancer, also looking at how such alcohol consumption impacts cancer risk independent of tobacco use.
The team analyzed data from two large US studies involving 88,084 women and 47,881 men, whose health was monitored for up to 30 years.
The alcohol consumption of participants was determined via a dietary intake questionnaire completed every 4 years.
Light to moderate drinking was defined as up to one standard drink, or 15 g or alcohol, a day for women and up to two standard drinks daily, or 30 g of alcohol, for men. One standard drink is the equivalent to a 118 ml glass of wine or a 355 ml bottle of beer.
As well as assessing participants' overall cancer risk, the researchers assessed their risk of alcohol-related cancers, including colon, rectal, liver, breast, oral cavity, pharynx and esophagus cancers.

People with family history of cancer 'should consider abstaining from alcohol'

Over the 30-year follow-up period, 19,269 cancers were diagnosed in women and 7,571 cancers were diagnosed in men.
Fast facts about alcohol use
  • In 2013, around 56.4% of American adults aged 18 and older reported consuming alcohol in the past month
  • Alcohol contributes to more than 200 diseases and injury-related health conditions
  • Each year, around 88,000 people in the US die from alcohol-related causes.
Men and women who engaged in light to moderate drinking were found to be at a small but "non-significant" increased total cancer risk, regardless of their smoking history.
However, the researchers found that women who engaged in light to moderate drinking were at greater risk of alcohol-related cancers, particularly breast cancer. This result rang true for women with and without a history of smoking.
Among men, light to moderate drinking was only linked to increased risk of alcohol-related cancers in those who had a history of smoking.
In an editorial linked to the study, Dr. Jürgen Rehm, of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, Canada, says the findings from Prof. Giovannucci and colleagues provide a greater understanding of how even light to moderate drinking can influence cancer risk.
While more research is needed to further assess the link between smoking and alcohol consumption on cancer risk, he believes the current findings suggest women should consume no more than one alcoholic beverage daily and men should drink no more than two.
Dr. Rehm adds:
"[...] People with a family history of cancer, especially women with a family history of breast cancer, should consider reducing their alcohol intake to below recommended limits, or even abstaining altogether, given the now well-established link between moderate drinking and alcohol-related cancers."
Last month, Medical News Today reported on a study that found individuals aged 50 and older who are healthy, active, sociable and wealthy may be at increased risk of harmful drinking.
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Copyright: Medical News Today

Exercise 300 minutes a week 'to cut postmenopausal breast cancer risk'



Doubling the amount of weekly moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise, to 300 minutes instead of 150 minutes a week, had a better effect on body fat in a trial of 400 inactive postmenopausal women.

older couple exercising
Links have been established between physical activity and postmenopausal breast cancer risk.
Reducing total fat and other adiposity measures, especially for obese women, was more effective with the greater exercise during a 1-year clinical trial published in JAMA Oncology.
The finding is noteworthy, say the authors, because body fat has been associated with increased risk of postmenopausal breast cancer, so these women may derive unique benefit from exercise.
Physical activity is an inexpensive, noninvasive strategy for disease prevention.
Worldwide, public health agencies recommend that for overall health we be physically active for at least 150 minutes a week at moderate intensity, or 60-75 minutes a week at vigorous intensity.
The authors led by Christine Friedenreich, PhD, of Alberta Health Services in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, conclude: "In previously inactive postmenopausal women, a 1-year prescription of moderate to vigorous exercise for 300 minutes/week was superior to 150 minutes/week for reducing total fat and other adiposity measures, especially in obese women." They add:
"These results suggest additional benefit of higher-volume aerobic exercise for adiposity outcomes and possibly a lower risk of postmenopausal breast cancer."
For the study, the women with body mass indexes (BMI) between 22 and 40 were asked not to change their usual diet.
Any aerobic activity that raised heart rate to 65-75% of heart rate reserve was permitted during the trial.
Participants met one-to-one with a study exercise trainer in the first two sessions, receiving orientation to the training facility and a variety of aerobic equipment, including:
  • Treadmills
  • Stationary bicycles
  • Elliptical trainers.
Trainers also provided a comprehensive exercise educational guide that included home-based exercise examples and technique instructions for specific activities.

Effects on a number of measures

Average reductions in total body fat were 1 kg (1% of body fat) larger in the 300-minute exercise group compared with the 150-minute group.
Decreases were also larger for the following measures in the 300-minute group:
  • Subcutaneous abdominal fat
  • Total abdominal fat
  • BMI
  • Waist circumference
  • Waist-to-hip ratio.
The results show that there were stronger effects for women who were obese - had a BMI of 30 or more - against the measures for change in weight, BMI, waist and hip circumference, and subcutaneous abdominal fat.
The authors conclude: "A probable association between physical activity and postmenopausal breast cancer risk is supported by more than 100 epidemiological studies, with strong biologic rationale supporting fat loss as an important (though not the only) mediator of this association.
"Our findings of a dose-response effect of exercise on total fat mass and several other adiposity measures including abdominal fat, especially in obese women, provide a basis for encouraging postmenopausal women to exercise at least 300 minutes/week, longer than the minimum recommended for cancer prevention."
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