Call 800-580-9104 to speak with an alcohol or drug abuse counselor.

Who Answers?

Binge drinking linked to breast cancer

A leading surgeon says breast cancer rates could soar unless young women cut back on binge drinking – and that mammograms are being “oversold”.

Dr Trevor Smith said alcohol was among the lifestyle choices that contributed towards New Zealand’s having one of the highest breast cancer rates in the world.

He called on the Government and breast cancer groups to “radically change” the way they tackled the illness by focusing on education rather than treatment.

“Almost all funds are channelled into screening, treatment and the search for a cure, instead of educating the public that prevention is your best protection. It’s astonishing.”

Smith said alcohol had been proven to be carcinogenic and the risk of breast and other cancers increased with the amount consumed.

“One glass of wine a day increases your breast cancer risk by 10 per cent. And I’m talking a small glass – 100ml. Imagine what binge drinking is doing to [young women’s] risk; it’s massive.”

About 2500 Kiwis are diagnosed with the disease each year.

Smith, who didn’t mind being “a bit of a maverick” on the issue, has detailed his thoughts in a new book, Breast Care.

He told the Herald on Sunday he was critical of the Ministry of Health because it concentrated on reacting to breast cancer, rather than empowering women and the 1 per cent of men it affects, with knowledge.

Smith also said it was a “cop-out” that many in the industry took money for mammograms without also giving women information on other ways to reduce the risk.

Mammograms failed to detect 15 per cent of cancerous lumps, he said.

Smith said World Cancer Research Fund findings released last November revealed a staggering 30-40 per cent of all cancers could be “avoided” by lifestyle changes.

He also recommended women had children before their 30th birthday and breastfed for as long as possible.

Breast Cancer Foundation medical committee chairwoman Dr Belinda Scott said she believed “enough was being done” in the fight to prevent breast cancer.

Associate Health Minister Steve Chadwick said the Government had made heavy investment in prevention and screening programmes.

The Cancer Control Strategy included significant prevention activities to reduce the incidence of all cancers and addressed proven risk factors.

Smith’s findings were presented to the Breast Cancer Network’s meeting in May and will be in the New Zealand Medical Journal on Friday.
_________________
source: NZ Herald

More Treatment & Detox Articles

Women who binge drink more likely to engage in unsafe sex

A U.S. study says women who have more than five alcoholic drinks at one sitting are at increased risk of having unsafe sex and contracting sexually transmitted diseases. Researchers at John Hopkins University medical school in Baltimore looked at the correlation between binge drinking and risky sexual behaviours in women. They interviewed patients at an….

1 in 8 combat troops needs alcohol counseling

One in eight troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan from 2006 to 2008 were referred for counseling for alcohol problems after their post-deployment health assessments, according to data from the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center. Service members complete their initial health assessments within 30 days of returning home. The authors of the study, published in….

Reasons to Choose Inpatient Drug Treatment Over Outpatient Drug Treatment

There are a number of reasons why one type of drug treatment may or may not prove to be more effective than the other. Ultimately, the reasons that you choose inpatient drug treatment versus outpatient drug treatment may differ significantly from the next person but the end result is the same—inpatient drug treatment tends to….

Chronic Drinking Causes More Liver Damage Than Binge Drinking

A new study conducted on rodents has shown the extreme harm caused by chronic drinking on the liver, much more than the injury caused by binge drinking. Although alcohol consumption is known to cause liver damage, still the degree of liver damage can differ according to the pattern of drinking “Different patterns of drinking can]….

The Threads of Addiction

Many people have features of an addictive personality. They heed the call to the “pleasure center,” located in the frontal lobe of the brain. As many individuals yield to the urges and cravings of the pleasure center, negative beliefs and behaviors reinforce the need to continue self-defeating addictive patterns. Beneath the addiction, one finds personality….