More than
40,000 women in Britain are diagnosed with breast cancer every year
and 13,000 die from it.
Experts are concerned the disease will increase because so many
young women are drinking beyond recommended limits. Nearly one in
five women aged 16 to 24 drink more than three units of alcohol a
day and, on average, British women of all ages have one drink a day.
The study by the charity Cancer Research UK looked at 50
different reports involving 150,000 women. It was conducted by Sir
Richard Doll, who first proved the link between smoking and lung
cancer.
He found that just one unit of alcohol a day - equivalent to a
single glass of wine - is enough to raise the risk of developing
breast cancer by six per cent.
The authors estimate that 2,000 women a year in Britain develop
the disease as a result of alcohol. By the age of 80, about 11 per
cent of women who have four drinks a day will have developed breast
cancer, compared with eight per cent of those who
Scientists believe drinking may raise oestrogen levels, allowing
cancer-to develop.
The rise of the ladette culture of binge drinking means many
women regularly have more than the recommended limit of 21 units a
week.
Sir Paul Nurse, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said: "It
seems that women's attitudes to alcohol are changing and this can
only have a negative impact on their health.
"It is important that we get the message out to young women that
drinking too much is dangerous."
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