Alcohol Use By Teens Increases Risk Of Benign Breast Disease

Teen girls and young women who regularly drink alcohol have a higher risk of benign breast disease in their 20s, an important risk factor for breast cancer. For the study, "Prospective Study of Adolescent Alcohol Consumption and Risk of Benign Breast Disease in Young Women," in the May issue of Pediatrics (published online April 12), researchers asked females ages 16 to 23 a series of questions about alcohol use, and two or more years later about any diagnosis of benign breast disease. (Participants were part of the Growing Up Today Study of more than 9,000 girls from all 50 states who are daughters of Nurses' Health Study II participants.


The study was begun in 1996 by researchers at Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School). Participants who reported drinking six to seven days per week had more than five times the risk of biopsy-confirmed benign breast disease as participants who never drank, while participants who reported drinking three to five days per week had three times the risk. This is the first study of alcohol intake assessed during adolescence, rather than recalled many years later, and risk of benign breast disease.


The finding of an association raises concern because alcohol intakes by college students have risen greatly in recent years, and drinking by adult women is one of the few known dietary risk factors for breast cancer. Study authors suggest that work to delay the onset of alcohol consumption and to reduce the amounts consumed may prevent some cases of benign breast disease and breast cancer.


Source

American Academy of Pediatrics