With October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, it’s a great time to talk about breast cancer risk, alcohol and NAD therapy. It’s important to remind our readers that there is a strong correlation between drinking and increasing one’s risk of breast cancer. Hundreds of thousands of women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year and the numbers are increasing. It’s important for women to know that there are behaviors that can reduce their risk as well as others that increase their risk, one being drinking. 
Research is consistently showing that all alcoholic beverages (beer, liquor, and even wine) increase a woman’s risk of hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer. This is because alcohol can increase the levels of estrogen and other hormones associated with hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer. Alcohol might also increase risk because it damages DNA in cells which can contribute to the development of cancer.
So how much drinking increases the risk of breast cancer? According to the British Journal of Cancer, every drink counts. Even one drink can increase the risk of breast cancer. A recent study in the BJC found, “a woman’s risk of breast cancer increases by six percent for every extra alcoholic drink consumed on a daily basis.” And a woman who regularly has four drinks a day increases her risk by thirty percent. Postmenopausal women can significantly increase their risk of cancer up to thirty percent with as little as one drink a day.
Let’s break down some of the numbers: women who have three drinks a week have a 15% greater risk than women who don’t drink. And researchers estimate that the risk goes up another 10% for each additional drink that women have regularly. And we aren’t just concerned about women, teen and tweens (ages 9-15) who have 3-5 drinks per week have three times the risk of developing benign breast lumps (and some of these lumps are associated with higher risks of developing breast cancer later in life). A 2009 study found women in remission, who had been diagnosed with early stages of the disease, significantly increased their risk of the disease returning by consuming even a few drinks a week (3-5).
Despite breast cancer often being related to family history and age, there are some factors that can be controlled to reduce the risk of breast cancer:
- Alcohol consumption: when it comes to breast cancer and drinking, limit alcohol to reduce the risk.
- Weight: keep excess weight off to reduce the risk.
- Diet: maintain a healthy diet to reduce the risk.
- Exercise: regular exercise helps to reduce the risk.
If you find that you are consuming more alcohol than you would like, or you are worried that your alcohol consumption may increase your risk of breast cancer, contact one of our specialists to discuss how NAD therapy like NTR Brain Restoration can help you get the situation under control and on your way to reducing your risk for breast cancer.
