Alcohol use linked to prostate cancer risk

December 27, 2016   |   Evidence in Integrative Healthcare

In a study published online in BMC Cancer, Canadian and Australian teams both report finding meta-analyses, dose-response relationships, to alcohol consumption and increased risk for prostate cancer. Groups were compared to ‘Abstainers’ and divided, as shown, into groups with varying percentage risk, for developing prostate cancer:

• Low volume use (2 drinks/day); having an 8% greater risk
• Medium volume use (4 drinks/day); having a 7% greater risk
• High volume use (6 drinks/day); having a 14% greater risk
• Higher volume use (6+drinks/day) having an 18% greater risk

It may be the risk is even higher, due to problems associated with allowing participants who were users, and are now abstainers, to be put into the abstainer, meta-analysis category. Providers should include time factors with wellness questions such as “Do you drink alcohol now or in the past?” “How many drinks per week did you consume and how long has it been since you stopped?”