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Red Wine prevents Prostate Cancer
Drinking a glass of red wine a day may cut a man's risk of prostate cancer in half, and the protective effect appears to be strongest against the most aggressive forms of the disease, according to a new study led by investigators at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
"We found that men who consumed four or more glasses of red wine per week reduced their risk of prostate cancer by 50 percent," Stanford said. "Among men who consumed four or more 4-ounce glasses of red wine per week, we saw about a 60 percent lower incidence of the more aggressive types of prostate cancer," said Stanford, senior author of the study. "The more clinically aggressive prostate cancer is where the strongest reduction in risk was observed."
Thank the Lord above, Stanford and colleagues found no significant effects -- positive nor negative -- associated with the consumption of beer or hard liquor and no consistent risk reduction with white wine, which suggests that there must be a beneficial compound in red wine that other types of alcohol lack. That compound, Stanford and colleagues believe, may be an antioxidant called resveratrol, which is abundant in the skins of red grapes but much less so in the skins of white grapes. The compound is also found in peanuts and raspberries and is available as a dietary supplement, which has been suggested to protect against cardiovascular disease. While the researchers found that the risk of prostate cancer decreased 6 percent for every glass of red wine consumed per week, Stanford is quick to point out that research shows the law of diminishing returns comes into play when consumption increases beyond moderation.
While the majority of studies to date have assessed the effects of overall alcohol use on prostate-cancer risk, fewer studies have attempted to compare the effects of wine versus beer versus hard liquor, and only one previous study has compared the impact of red versus white wine on prostate-cancer risk, said Stanford, also a professor of epidemiology at the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine. The previous study, the Netherlands Cohort Study, evaluated prostate- cancer risk in relation to white and red wine consumption. Increased risks were found in men who consumed "white and fortified wines," but not red wine, as compared to nondrinkers, although there was not a consistent trend in risks with levels of intake. Interestingly, among men who consumed 15 or more grams of red wine per day (about one and a half glasses per day), there was an overall 18 percent reduction in risk and a 16 percent lower risk of advanced- stage prostate cancers. The Netherlands Cohort Study was initiated in 1986 and collected information by self-administered mailed questionnaires that asked about alcohol consumption during the prior year only. Thus, the Netherlands Cohort Study results only reflect associations with recent wine consumption, as investigators were unable to examine lifetime intake as was done in the current Fred Hutchinson study. "One of the reasons we wanted to do this study is because overall, most of the scientific literature -- around 17 studies to date -- haven't shown a consistent relationship between alcohol consumption and prostate cancer," Stanford said. "Some have shown an increase, some a decrease, and most no association whatsoever. Part of the problem, we believe, is that few of the studies have attempted to sort out the effects of different types of alcohol intake over a man's lifetime." Jim Shaw
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