Move over tobacco you have just been passed. According to a recent study by the Cancer Council, alcohol is responsible for 5% of all cancer cases and for as much as 20% of all breast cancer cases.
Class 1 Carcinogen
According to the leader of the Cancer Council, Ian Olver, alcohol should be classified as a Class One carcinogen. This places alcohol up there right alongside tobacco and asbestos for substances that cause cancer.
In the past alcohol had primarily been associated with liver cancer, as well as cancers of the head and neck. But new evidence has shown that alcohol accelerates the chances of contracting one of the most popular cancers found in women.
Look Out Ladies!
Once again research has come out that alcohol is more hazardous to the health of women than men. Of course alcohol likes to bind with fatty tissue and that has always been a major reason why women are more susceptible to ill effects to their health from alcohol consumption.
Given that it is the primary cause for 1 in 5 breast cancer cases is quite alarming. Twenty-five percent of all cancers found in women in the USA are breast cancer (second only to skin cancer). In 2009 there were an estimated 192,000 new cases of breast cancer in women in the USA alone. That would make alcohol responsible for almost 40,000 cases of breast cancer in women every year.
The key is moderation or abstinence. Even scientists like Olver agree that consuming one alcoholic beverage a day should be fine.