The National Advisory Group has published new guidelines, on the number of drinks consumed each week, and the risk of health issues. The International Agency for Research for decades have classified Alcohol as a #1 preventable Carcinogenic to humans, behind Tobacco and Asbestos– especially for women! Alcohol use in Canada causes nearly $7,000 cases of cancer deaths each year in Canada.
The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (CCSA) who advises the Canadian government on alcohol consumption, has drastically reduced what is considered low-risk drinking, Previous guidelines indicated 10 drinks a week for women and 15 for men. The new proposed guidelines indicate that more than 6 drinks per week leads to increased risk of a host of health issues. The new proposed guidelines suggest that the health risks become “increasingly high” when someone has six or more drinks per week. Women who have 3 or more drinks per week, increase their risk of heart, liver and breast cancer.
Alcohol consumption, by women is consistently associated with the risk of breast cancer. Although the liver is the primary site were acetaldehyde and free radicals are produced in the process of alcohol metabolism, normal human breast tissue has the capacity to metabolize alcohol at low concentrations and alcohol dehydrogenase is expressed in human breast epithelial cells. Research has shown that acetaldehyde accumulates in mammary tissue for prolonged periods of time after a single oral dose of ethanol and finally reaches a level considerably higher than in the blood. Drinking even small amounts of alcohol is linked with an increased risk of breast cancer in women.
BREAST CANCER ALERT: If you have a family history of breast cancer or – If you have had breast cancer, there is an elevated risk that your cancer will return. There is consensus that no amount of alcohol is safe given the vulnerability of women’s bodies to the intake of alcohol.