A new Victorian study has discovered a link between alcohol consumption and breast cancer.
According to the study by Monash University, Turning Point and the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, a correlation between alcohol consumption and breast cancer.
The study, which was published in Medical Journal of Australia, shows that alcohol consumption “accounts for” around 6.6 percent of breast cancer cases in post-menopausal women and 18 percent of breast cancer deaths.
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Women who drink low to moderate amounts of alcohol are also at a higher risk of breast cancer.
“Awareness of this risk remains surprisingly low and is not systematically addressed in healthcare settings,” Monash University said in a statement.
“Risky drinking has significantly increased among midlife and older aged women, a cohort that is at highest lifetime risk of developing breast cancer.”
As part of a joint project between Turning Point, Monash University and VicHealth, researchers developed ‘Health4Her’ – an alcohol intervention program to help educate women on the correlation between drinking and breast cancer.
The Health4Her initiative provided women with personalised feedback surrounding drinking levels, advice on reducing alcohol consumption and recommendations to help women maintain low drinking levels.
The study was led by Dr Jasmin Grigg and included a group of 557 women around the age of 60.
Dr Grigg said at least 65 percent of women participating in the trial were aware of the effects of alcohol consumption on breast cancer following the trial.
“Previous research has shown that women attending breast screening services have low awareness of the alcohol-breast cancer link, so these results are encouraging,” Dr Grigg said.
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