ALCOHOL
INCREASES RISK OF BREAST CANCER IN YOUNG WOMEN
Parents should discuss yet another important issue with
their daughters on alcohol intake as how much they could drink could increase their
risk of breast cancer.
Researchers at Washington University School Of Medicine
in St. Luis found that every drink-whether beer , wine, or liquor a young woman
consumes daily before her first
pregnancy puts her at a nearly 15 percent greater risk of developing a condition called pro-liferative benign
breast disease, which is a non-cancerous breast condition linked to breast
cancer. In fact, the presence of the non-cancerous breast lesions raises a
woman’s risk of breast cancer by up to 500 percent.
While men have a history of been the bigger boozers
than women, the gender gap is closing now, as 40 percent of college-age women now report binge-drinking habits,
according to the National Survey on Drug Use and health.
For women, binge-drinking is consuming four or more
alcoholic beverages in one sitting. And while heavy drinking is on the increase
amongst young women these days, more need to consider the health risk.
If a female averages a drink per day between hers first
period and her first -full term pregnancy, she increases her risk of breast
cancer by 13 percent ;” Parents should educate their daughters about the link between drinking and the risk of
breast cancer disease. That’s very important because this time period is very
critical.
According to the national survey women who had their
period before age 12 and first child after 35 are at greater risk of breast
cancer than other women. Researchers noted that the average time from a woman’s
first menstrual cycle to full-term pregnancy doesn’t seem to be shortening, so
that’s another reason for women to lower their daily consumption below one
drink.
By…Belinda Yeboah
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