This thread seems very dangerous to me as it is now clear we are being encouraged to overindulge in the demon drink.
I recommend adam’s ale from the tap, a lot cheaper than £3.50 a bottle.
Well I would,
I’m a mole and I live in a hole
Good Morning
I was reading this thread with interest , i have enjoyed a drink 4-5 nights a week not heavilly bit a couple of beers after work or a glass of red wine and i am trying to cut down now as i do worry about the reports published but then i read about young ladies getting BC in their early 20s who dont drink and live such a healthy lifestyle, and i read such conflicting reports i know its things in moderation but when im stressed i must admit i do head for the bottle ! then spend the next day worrying and beating myself up ! when i asked my oncologist about this he told me he believes this disease is random and feels there is no conclusive evidence of causes as he has come accross so many ladies of varying ages and lifestyles, he treated a lady 12 years ago she drinks a bottle of white wine every night and has not had any reoccurance up to now and is doing great and enjoying life ! ( her liver probably isnt !) its so tough we have so much to deal with , without blaming ourselves for breast cancer which i must admit sometimes i do
galen x
Some of the stories above sound to me like the people who say of smoking -“I know someone who smoked all their adult life and lived to be 10!!!”. It still ain’t a smart thing to do. I think the same is true of alcohol, especially to excess. As someone who very rarely consumes alcohol one glass a day would seem excessive. So often with these facts and figures presented by the media there is emphasis on the part that makes for headlines and sensationalism, we need to dig behind that for the facts. For most of us reading this thread it is like trying to close the stable door …But I think we need to stop seeing it as beating up the cancer patient and look at it more as trying to help as many as possible avoid becoming the next victim of this wretched disease. Coming back to lung cancer and smoking, because I do see a parallel here, as sales of cigarettes fall with the new laws in place I am sure fewer people will take up smoking and lung cancer cases will fall. Yes we want a cure for these diseases, Yes we want more money dedicated to seeking that cure but until all that happens let’s do what we can to warn people of those things that add to their risk.
dawnhc
No need to duck Kathy! I was getting a bit concerned at the way so many people were completely dismissing this report. As Dawn says…rather reminsicent of the way initial reports on smoking and lung cancer were dismissed. However, as I said earlier I think the causes of breast cancer are multi factoral…so its not quite the same and I don’t think that declining sales of alcohol would do for breast cancer what declining sales of cigarettes have done for lung cancer.
I don’t like the way many reports of links with breast cancer are made BUT I think there is no doubt that there is now sufficient evidence that for some breast cancers for some people drinking too much does increase the risk. Also as I said earlier I think in my own case my heavy drinking during a misspent youth may have contributed (Which is not to say that I’m not envious of my peers who did the same and haven’t got breast cancer.)
I think we have to separate sound scientific reserach and evidence from that which is unsound. There is quite a lot of evidence on breast cancer and alcohol…not definitive but evidence nonetheless. There is by contrast no proper evidence on links between breast cancer and deodorants, breast cancer and under wired bras or breast cancer and stress…but lots of people like to think there is.
Jane
Hi Dawn
I see your point that if we deny that something is bad for us, it helps allay the feelings of guilt and it is too simplistic to say that because one person or several drink to excess that gives us the green light to do likewise. I think my point would be is yes, alcohol in excess in dangerous - not just for BC but a whole host of other diseases. However, the risk is very small (despite the reports of 50% which needs to be taken in context of the whole study) and I feel this type of scaremongering by the government may have an adverse consequence. Already from this thread you can see that the patronising idea of blaming women for overdrinking becasue they are too stupid to recognise that they are doing so, has got peoples’ backs up - the very people probably that the government want to target! Yes, it is important to encourage people to adopt healthy lifestyles, but scaring people on a mass media scale is proven to have a negative effect - remember the AIDS campaign a few years ago?. No, what I am saying is that the government should not keep singling out issues to make people feel that they are responsible for their own disease - it is far too complex. My suggestion would be to tackle the real reason people drink too much such as stress, poverty, feelings of despair, depression etc rather than simply say don’t drink. Whatever everyone’s personal feelings about this, it is certainly been good for debate.
Cathy
i replied earlier to this thread and you have just spurred me to really shape myself and adopt a healthier lifestyle just to reduce the risk of reoccurance and start to believe there has to be some actual truths in the reports about alcohol , i have just signed up for the ben nevis challenge so i am now swapping my beer for a long walk and i have set my self a target of raising £1000 for breastcancercare so thank you for this thread .
love galen xx
so im being told to take tamoxifen to prevent BC but when I asked my gyneacologist about the risk of cervical cancers through this drug he said to have it but there is a REAL risk, it seems to me that certain risk factors are well hidden and certain areas are really put forawrd, like people are playing with are lives. Incidently i do not smoke and stay away from those that do, yet whenever i go for appointments at the hospital to try and save my life, i HAVE to walk through anywhere between 10 and 50 smokers to get into the hospital!!! so thats probably doing my lungs just as much damage as the occassional glass of wine!!!
All good postings, sometimes its nice to have some humour and lighheartedness in a thread even whilst discussing serious issues as long as we are sensitive to people.
Dare i say it, aren’t we suppose to live longer if we laugh more?
I was not in my thread previously saying people should drink heavily, Its a curse to so many and i do believe we are healthier if we dont drink or just drink on rare occassions
Rx.
I do enjoy these threads…I for one did worry about the drink, I drank probably way to much in my early/mid 30’s due to work stress/marriage probs etc etc (all said before I know) but I know two “young” ladies who have died and didn’t drink, and I certainly know plenty ladies who drink way in excess of the “norm”. and they don’t have it. A very dear friend I met in hospital having her lumpectomy at same time as my dx has never drank and now has secondary cancer - so how’s that possible???
I was dx at 42 by which time I’d been in a 6 year stready relationship and barely drank. SO, until such times as proof is found, I for one will continue with my meagre glass of wine each weekend and the G&T now and again…bit too early at the moment though hic!
I read recently that in moderation red wine may protect against some cancers but NOT breast cancer for which white wine especially sparkling was better and that red was contra indicated.Unfortunately I cannot remember where I read it so pass me the champers while I try!Valxx
Very interesting thread, the public are so pass remarkable! I remember when i was pregnant with my son, hes 10 next month, i enjoyed the odd glass of wine, i actually carried an article from a pregnancy magazine in my handbag. It stated it was ok to drink 14 units when pregnant…i find it funny because when i was pregnant with my 13 and 7 year olds ir was advising 1 or 2 untits a week…The risks of BC are random, i think the screening programme needs to be expanded as i was 41 when diagnosed and my mum,10 months ago was 66, just outside the programme, she requested a mammogram due to my diagnosis. I personally would rather have a glass or 2 of wine to help me sleep rather than sleeping tablets or antidepressants!..(ok apparently alcohol can make you depressed, not me!) Pity we dont have that Wolf blass offer in Northern Ireland!!
Jill
What’s Wolf Blass and where do I get it??? Not sure it’s available inFrance, so I’ll get back to my bottle of red… hic
Hi
Wolf Blass is just a make of very nice wine (Australian, I think) It is fairly expensive so I only buy it when it is on offer. As I get older, I find I would rather drink quality wines rather than buckets full of cheap tat like I used to in my yoof! I was in the RAF and drinking was an integral part of the social life - looking back there were many with serious drink problems that we just used to think were the norm and they gave us a good laugh, watching them fall over etc. I know personally of at least two people who died of acute alcoholic poisoning within hours of drinking too much. Luckily I left before I got too entrenched in the drinking scene, but still like my glass or two of wine, especially now, so I feel fairly qualified in knowing whats sensible and definitely what is not
Cathy
x
Breakthrough Breast Cancer have a useful publication on their site called Alcohol and Breast Cancer Risk: The Facts. It’s a downloadable PDF and interesting because it gives numbers rather than percentages and I found it very helpful when I became worried that my not particularly excessive drinking in the past had led to my disease. Like a lot of people I find a percentage meaningless unless I know the base figure.
I have now had BC twice with a 17 gap in between. I have a glass of white wine about 5 times a week, often 2 at the weekend and it has done me no harm and I do not intend to stop. Am now 69 and my quality of life is very important to me. I do not see a link between normal social drinking and BC and until it is proven unequivocably I do not intend to change my lifestyle. After BC you certainly need a little lift at the end of the day and as I get older it may just become lunchtime as well!!!