One Bottle of Wine Causes Same Cancer Risk as Five to 10 Cigarettes

A new study claims that drinking wine moderately can increase the risk of cancer in the same way that cigarette smoking does. Researchers from the United Kingdom analyzed data from the Cancer Research UK. They calculated the cancer risk of non-smokers who consumed a bottle of wine every week. Afterward, they compared the data with the cancer risk of moderate smokers. Specifically, the researchers studied the number of deaths caused by drinking and smoking and determined the cancer risk that both habits carried. According to the results, drinking one bottle of wine every week bears the same cancer risk as smoking five cigarettes for men and 10 for women each week. This means that moderate drinking can increase cancer risk by 1% in men and 1.4% in women. One of the researchers commented that the study is important because the risks of drinking alcohol are not well communicated to the public. However, the researcher clarified that drinking alcohol moderately is not the same as smoking and that the impact is different for every person. Sophia Lowes of Cancer Research UK commended the study. She said that comparing drinking alcohol to smoking, a major cause of cancer, is helpful in getting the danger of alcohol across to people. However, some companies in the alcohol industry called the study confusing and misleading. They argued that the increased cancer risk might not be solely due to drinking alcohol and other factors like genetics and lifestyle could also be at play.