Moderate Drinking Linked to Reduction of Tumors in the Colon
Staff Writer - August 31, 2003
Moderate Drinking Linked to Reduction of Tumors in the Colon
Recently, scientists at New York's Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center declared that drinking one to two glasses of wine daily may contribute to reducing bowel polyps, which are a precursor to colon cancer.
 Dr. Rajeev Jayadevan said that "The apparent protective effect exists among those who consume mild to moderate amounts of alcohol, that is, up to two drinks per day". In addition, he explained that "When separately analyzed, wine, distilled spirits and beer produced the same effects independently."
Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the USA and in 2003, 105,500 new cases are expected, according to the American Cancer Society. That's why Jayadevan's team set out to study whether there is a link between alcohol consumption and the occurrence of polyps, which are usually benign, but over time may become tumorous and lead to colon cancer.
The team's findings were presented at Digestive Diseases Weekly, the world's largest annual gastroenterology conference, in Orlando on May 19. The research is ongoing, and the results presented there were admittedly preliminary. "At the time, we only had data on 217 patients," said Mr. Jayadevan.
The researchers found that the patients who did not drink had a 38% risk of developing polyps. Those who drank one to two glasses a day had an 80 percent lower chance of developing the growth of polyps. On the other hand, the few patients who drank more than two glasses a day, so far showed a slightly higher risk of developing polyps than non-drinkers. Those patients who had drank moderately for 10 years or longer, tended to be totally free of the growths.
"No other explanatory variables (sex, race, smoking) influenced the occurrence of polyps," states the study. T he results may change over time as the research continues, admitted Jayadevan. "I am not sure, as that was not studied," he said about how alcohol may slow the growth of polyps. "However, it is possible that alcohol may affect the function of oncogenes that have a lot to do with growths in the colon."
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