HHS HealthBeat (May 19, 2009)

Red wine, white wine

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

A glass or two a day of red wine may be good for the heart. But studies indicate alcohol in general can elevate the risk of breast cancer. So researchers wondered if red wine might be an exception to the findings on alcohol, and maybe even reduce the risk of breast cancer.

Sad news for lovers of red wine. The breast cancer risk was like the risk for other alcohol -- say, white wine.

At Seattle’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Polly Newcomb:

[Polly Newcomb speaks] "In general, alcohol consumption increases the breast cancer risk. We didn’t find any difference between red and white wine."

Women who had about two drinks a day had about a 25 percent higher risk of breast cancer than nondrinkers.

The study in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: May 7, 2011