Sydney, March 14: Men, here's a word of caution from renowned international researchers. Limit your drinking if you do not want to compromise on your masculinity. According to a new study, men who consume two or more drinks a day are at a 20 percent higher risk of developing prostate cancer.
Scientists from the National Drug Research Institute examined and reviewed 35 studies on alcohol consumption from around the world. A review of the studies established a vital link between drinking and prostate cancer.
Associate Professor Tanya Chikritzhs from Western Australia's Curtin University, author of the study, stated: "We found that at one drink a day the risk was not significant but at two standard drinks, middle-aged men had about a 20 per cent greater chance of developing prostate cancer. For four drinks a day, the chance was 25 per cent higher and for six standard drinks a day, the risk was about 35 per cent higher."
Professor Chikritzhs and her team separated each study before they came to this conclusion. "What we did was pull apart the studies themselves and separate out the different types of designs and it was in doing that that we could identify that the prostate cancer alcohol link was lost underneath layers of confounding and biasing certain types of studies," Professor Chikritzhs said.
Earlier research had shown that drinking two or more alcoholic drinks a day could help prevent heart attacks, encouraging men to down a couple of drinks to provide themselves health benefits. However, the recent findings clash with the previous study.
Professor Chikritzhs declared that "What we're saying in here is that the person who drinks consistently at higher than low-risk levels will have an elevated risk of prostate cancer."
She cautions men to restrict the consumption of alcohol to less than two standard drinks daily. Limiting their drinking to the minimum was very important for men with a history of prostate cancer and those with indications of a possible risk to develop the disease.
Professor Chikritzhs added, "It's important to be reminded in the face of publicity about alcohol having a protective effect, that it can be harmful … Prostate cancer is one of many cancers linked to alcohol, including mouth, colorectal and breast cancer for women."
Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in men in the UK with nearly 34,000 new cases diagnosed annually. Though for a majority it does not pose a threat but an aggressive form of the disease can prove fatal. Not much is known about the causes of the disease, though environmental factors are believed to be responsible.
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