Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Why alcohol abuse is more dangerous for women
Every year, October is observed as the Breast Cancer Awareness Month in the United States with the objective of making people conscious about the need for early detection, palliative care and prevention strategies.
While age, obesity, genes and family history are some of the common causes of breast cancer, the International Agency for Research on Cancer considers alcohol as a carcinogenic substance. Every 10g or 1 drink of alcohol is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer by 7-10% among adult women. This link is prevalent in both premenopausal and postmenopausal women. The risk increases by 4-15% with even light alcohol intake (less than 1 drink/day). In America, nearly 4-10% cases of breast cancer are attributed to alcohol consumption leading to 9000 to 23,000 novel cases of breast cancer cases every year. Read more