Type of Alcohol Makes a Difference
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Drinking any type of alcohol increases the risk of developing rectal cancer, but new research shows wine increases the risk less than beer or other spirits.
The study out of Denmark looked at colon and rectal cancer risk in more than 29,000 men and women between ages 23 and 95. During a 15-year follow up, investigators found no link between drinking and colon cancer, but heavy drinkers were about twice as likely to develop rectal cancer as nondrinkers.
When results were broken down according to the type of alcohol consumed, they showed those who drank beer and other forms of alcohol except wine were about 3.5 times as likely as nondrinkers to develop rectal cancer. Those who consumed the same amount of alcohol but drank wine for about a third of their total consumption had less than twice the risk of rectal cancer as nondrinkers.
Researchers aren't sure why their study found alcohol had an effect on rectal cancer risk but not colon cancer risk, but they do believe they can explain the lowered risk of rectal cancer seen among wine drinkers. The benefits, they say, probably come from a substance in wine that has been shown to slow the cellular processes involved in cancer cell development and growth.
They write, "The observed anticarcinogenic effect of wine in the present study is supported by experimental research on components of wine. Resveratrol, a phytoalexin found in grapes and wine, has been shown to inhibit cellular events associated with tumor initiation, promotion and progression."
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Gut, 2003;52:861-867
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