Drinkers are warned over cancer worry

Aug 6 2007 by Jane Picken, Evening Chronicle

Experts say that drinking alcohol significantly raises our chances of developing bowel cancer. Health reporter JANE PICKEN has the details

JUST a seemingly insignificant pint of beer or glass of wine every day can increase the risk of getting bowel cancer by up to 10% according to charity Cancer Research UK.

And the more you drink the more the risk increases, experts say.

Almost half a million people in 10 European countries were quizzed on their drinking habits as part of the study funded by Cancer Research UK, the Medical Research Council and other European agencies.

The report, published online in the International Journal of Cancer, found people who drink 15 grams of alcohol a day – equivalent to about two units – have an increased risk of developing bowel cancer.

Those who drank more than 30 grams of alcohol – equivalent to three to four units, which is less than a couple of pints of strong lager – increased their bowel cancer risk by around 25%.

The North East has some of the highest drinking rates in the country and there are around 1,750 new cases of bowel cancer every year in the region.

“The research shows quite clearly that the more alcohol you drink the greater your risk of bowel cancer,” said Prof Tim Key, who is an epidemiologist for Cancer Research UK .

“This increase in risk is not large but it is important that people understand they can reduce their risk of a number of different cancers – including bowel cancer – by cutting down on alcohol.”

Almost 480,000 people were asked questions about how much alcohol they drank and they were followed up for six years.

In that period, 1,833 people developed colon cancer.

“There is a lot of confusion over safe levels of drinking,” said Dr Lesley Walker, Cancer Research UK’s director of cancer information.

“It is important that people do not automatically equate one drink with one unit. A large glass of wine with a high alcohol volume is likely to be the equivalent of considerably more than that.

“Cancer Research UK recommends that women should drink less than two units a day and men less than three.”

The lifetime risk for bowel cancer in men is one-in-20, and in women it is one-in-18. Around 30,000 new cases of bowel cancer are diagnosed each year.

For more information on preventing cancer visit www.reducetherisk.org.uk.

Cancer Research UK’s awareness roadshow will be at the Manor Walks Shopping Centre in Cramlington on October 15 and 16.

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Reduced-alcohol wine

CONSUMERS can now enjoy wine in pubs and bars without the headache of high alcohol.

Sovio, a new reduced-alcohol wine, has now been launched in the UK by company DB Wines.

Lower-alcohol wines are becoming more fashionable, according to a recent report issued by the Wine & Spirit Trade Association in May.

And the increased number of health and diet conscious-consumers has helped start a trend in the wine market, which is further fuelled by the increased focus on responsible drinking and reduced alcohol consumption.

Sovio has a strength of just 8%, as opposed to around 12% in other wines, and also fewer calories.