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alcohol and breast cancer

do any of you have any strong thoughts on drinking  alcohol and breast cancer.  as a breast cancer survivor and wine lover i cant help but feel guilty every time i pour a glass of wine.  do any of you know of a correlation between the 2.  i know it isnt advised but just trying to hear some opinions.  
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962875 tn?1314210036
Well, on the one hand, women must take in to consideration that alcohol is a risk factor for breast cancer. Here is some information regarding that:

1.) Jean Carper, an author and leading authority on health and nutrition, recently stated in one of her columns that a new analysis of 70,000 women found that consuming 1 to 2 drinks per day poses a 10% higher risk of BC, and more than 3 drinks per day boosts the risk 30% compared with with women having less than 1 drink per day. 2.) In a recent online chat with two BC specialists on breast cancer.org, one of them reported that postmenopausal women who consume 1/2 glass of wine per day increase their risk for BC by 6%, while women in the same group who consume 2-3 glasses of wine per day increase their risk by close to 40%. 3.) British researchers, analyzing data from 53 previous studies involving 150,000 women concluded that relative to nondrinkers, the drinker's risk of BC rose 7.1% with each daily 10 g increment of alcohol imbibed.

On the other hand, one of MedHelps videos reports on a study indicating that red wine reduced the side effects of  radiation on the skin:(http://www.medhelp.org/health_videos/Red-Wine-Could-Help-With-Radiation-Sickeness/show/2735).

HOWEVER, my concern about this study is whether they investigated the possibility that the antioxidents in the wine might have also afforded some degree of protection to the cancer cells!

Please have a full discussion regarding the use of alcohol with your treatment team, especially if you have ER+ cancer.
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Avatar universal
I have just been diagnosed with LCIS and reducing or elimating wine is on my list of questions for my doc next week. My husband is from Italy and he and his family have been making their own red wine for over 50 years since they came here. His Dad is gone now, but he continues the tradition with our son, and it is absolutely wonderful wine! He's really worked at  refining and improving the "Dago red" of years ago! I've been drinking a glass with dinner for the 41 years we've been married and I know it would be awfully hard to give that up. I've seen studies about alcohol and breast cancer and I'm even a participant in the Harvard Nurses Health Study II. I've often wondered if studies have ever been done on Italian or French women who drink wine every day with their main meal? Have they ever separated out wine only vs. other types of alcohol?
Basically, I agree that life should not just be long but happy. I think we need to do as much as we can to reduce our risks, but not at the expense of being miserable!
To all you wine-lovers out there, Salute!
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Avatar universal
Good luck to you.  Glad you are doing well.  I took tamoxifen for 5 years and now I am on Femara for 1 1/2 years so far with minimal side effects.  Many have spoken about the awful side effects, but not everyone has them.  Take care.
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Avatar universal
thank you so much! i have just had a lumpectomy and found that the cancer was gone, but that i still have to have radiation and then tak tamoxifen. i love my red wine- especially with italian food:) and can't imagine going without it. my surgeon was stand-offish today and didn't seem ready to answer questions. i appreciate knowing there are other wine lovers out there who are in the same situation!!
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Avatar universal
cheers to the chardonnay!!! i too, believe in fun and after all what is life for.  so,as i wont drink in exess,  the weekend and maybe one glass during the week seems to be my pattern.  i think although you are all right and there seems to be the correlation by the medical experts, the individuals that ive spoken to have the same feelings that you do.   .  so thanx, and raise a glass (or 2)
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Avatar universal
Like all you ladies I too love a glass of wine, Chardonnay being the preference, expecially New Zealand wines.  I'm dribbling thinking of a chilled glass now as I type, but alas it is only Thursday, so have to put those thoughs away.

I send 8 months last year fighting breast cancer and enjoyed many a good night out with the girls and enjoy a few glasses of wine. I continue to do so.  I have maybe 1 glass of wine at the weekend unless I am out for dinner or at a party (not that often) and then I have a few glass of wine and may even have 1 or 2 Bacardi.  I do not drink this much that often, but I believe in living and enjoying myself.  Of all my family and friends I exercised the most, drank the least and probably ate the best and guess what, yes it was me who got breast cancer.  So really, I have no idea why it was me, I'm fed up trying to rationalise.  So my motto now is that I am going to enjoy my life, have the nice cream cake every now and then, exercise as much as I can, eat plenty of fruit and veg and yes, enjoy socialising with family and friends and savour those glasses of wine.

If believed everything your read or did everything you were told, sure what would be the point in living, sure that is no live.

Cheers and Slainte to all your ladies!!
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Avatar universal
i too have read negative news between the correlation of alcohol and breast cancer and noticed it is now a question at my gyno and mammo about how much is consumed.  that being said i believe it does raise it a small percentage and i like you girls am not ready to give up my wine drinking.  i was strictly a red drinker but live in florida and in this hot weather there is nothing like a cold glass of chardonnay at night by the pool or ocean!  i have tried to limit myself to weekends only but have to confess don't always make it!  i am 47 and my mom is 67. thinking back to how her an her friends used to party, only 1 that i know of ended up with breast cancer (not my mom, thanks goodness)not to mention thier cigarette smoking!!  next thing you know they will be saying there is a correlation between breast cancer and sex or chocolate!
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326352 tn?1310994295
Everything I've read is in the negative with drinking even a little.  However, I'm like you, I love a good glass of wine.  I try not to imbibe too often, save a glass for the weekend....or after a particularly upsetting day.  I have 2 toddlers, so sometimes that's more frequent than it should be.

The data does not look good for drinking and breast cancer....I sure hope I'm not upsetting my kitty cart for it, too.

But I'm not prepared to totally get on the wagon just yet.  ;)
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