(Press-News.org) Drinking alcohol before first pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of benign breast disease (BBD) and breast cancer, independent of drinking after first pregnancy, according to a new study published August 28 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Previous studies have shown that alcohol consumed in the past year affects a woman's breast cancer risk. However, data on the relationship between drinking alcohol during the period of time between a woman's first menstrual period and first pregnancy and the risk of proliferative BBD and breast cancer had not been reported. Breast tissue is particularly susceptible to carcinogens during that period of time.
Ying Liu, M.D., Ph.D., from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO, and colleagues analyzed data from 116,671 female registered nurses, aged 25-44 years, on medical history, reproductive history, and lifestyle. The data were collected using questionnaires as part of the Nurses' Health Study II (NHSII). Alcohol consumption in four age periods were obtained by asking participants about the total number of alcoholic drinks consumed at different ages (ages 15-17, 18-22, 23-30, and 31-40). After excluding women who did not meet the predetermined study criteria, a total of 91,005 women with a history of full-term pregnancy were included in the final analysis. Among these women, 1,609 cases of breast cancer and 970 cases of BBD occurred during the study period. These cases were confirmed by physicians who reviewed information from each patient's medical records.
Drinking alcohol between the first menstrual period and first pregnancy was associated with risk of breast cancer and proliferative BBD, regardless of drinking after the first pregnancy. The data indicated a dose-dependent relationship, which means the more alcohol a woman drinks during that time, the higher her risk of developing breast cancer. Also, the authors observed longer intervals between first menstrual period and first pregnancy showed stronger associations compared with shorter intervals. The authors also report drinking after the first pregnancy was associated with breast cancer risk but not BBD.
The authors write, "The general consistency in the patterns of association between alcohol and risk of proliferative BBD and of breast cancer lends support to the hypothesis that alcohol intake, particularly before first pregnancy when breast tissue is likely at its most vulnerable stage, may play an important role in the etiology of breast cancer." These findings have potentially important implications for breast cancer prevention.
###
Contact Info:
Article: Graham A. Colditz, M.D., Dr.P.H., colditzg@wustl.edu
Consuming alcohol before first pregnancy linked with increased risk of BBD & breast cancer
2013-08-29
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Migraine may permanently change brain structure
2013-08-29
MINNEAPOLIS – Migraine may have long-lasting effects on the brain's structure, according to a study published in the August 28, 2013, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
"Traditionally, migraine has been considered a benign disorder without long-term consequences for the brain," said study author Messoud Ashina, MD, PhD, with the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. "Our review and meta-analysis study suggests that the disorder may permanently alter brain structure in multiple ways."
The study found that migraine raised ...
Does migraine affect income or income affect migraine?
2013-08-29
MINNEAPOLIS – Studies show that migraine is more common among people with lower incomes. This relationship is examined in a study published in the August 28, 2013, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, looking at whether developing migraines limits people's educational and career achievements, leading to a lower income status, or whether problems related to low income such as stressful life events and poor access to health care increase the likelihood of developing migraines.
Contrary to the theory that social stressors ...
Kids' fast food ads emphasize giveaways more than food
2013-08-29
Fast-food marketing aimed at children emphasizes giveaways and movie tie-ins much more frequently than ads targeted at adults, according to research published August 28 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by James Sargent and colleagues from the Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth.
The researchers compared ads from fast food companies on children's TV channels such as Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network to those aired for adults. Ads targeted at children emphasized food packaging and street views of the restaurants, whereas adult ads emphasized the images of the food sold ...
Hidden shell middens reveal ancient human presence in Bolivian Amazon
2013-08-29
Previously unknown archeological sites in forest islands reveal human presence in the western Amazon as early as 10,000 years ago, according to research published August 28 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Umberto Lombardo from the University of Bern, Switzerland and colleagues from other institutions.
The study focuses on a region in the Bolivian Amazon thought to be rarely occupied by pre-agricultural communities due to unfavorable environmental conditions. Hundreds of 'forest islands'- small forested mounds of earth- are found throughout the region, their origins ...
Fish larvae sniff reef odor to find their way home
2013-08-29
Reef fish larvae are only millimeters-long when they hatch, but can smell the presence of coral reefs from several kilometers offshore, and use this odor to navigate home. The results are reported August 28 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Claire Paris from the University of Miami and colleagues from other institutions.
The researchers used a novel drifting behavioral arena to find that larvae of two families, damselfish and cardinalfish, changed swimming speed and direction in response to the smell of reef water, but water from the open ocean did not evoke a similar ...
A major cause of age-related memory loss identified
2013-08-29
NEW YORK, NY (August 28, 2013) — A team of Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers, led by Nobel laureate Eric R. Kandel, MD, has found that deficiency of a protein called RbAp48 in the hippocampus is a significant contributor to age-related memory loss and that this form of memory loss is reversible. The study, conducted in postmortem human brain cells and in mice, also offers the strongest causal evidence that age-related memory loss and Alzheimer's disease are distinct conditions. The findings were published today in the online edition of Science Translational ...
1 in 4 has alarmingly few intestinal bacteria
2013-08-29
All people have trillions of bacteria living in their intestines. If you place them on a scale, they weigh around 1.5 kg. Previously, a major part of these 'blind passengers' were unknown, as they are difficult or impossible to grow in laboratories. But over the past five years, an EU-funded research team, MetaHIT, coordinated by Professor S. Dusko Ehrlich at the INRA Research Centre of Jouy-en-Josas, France and with experts from Europe and China have used advanced DNA analysis and bioinformatics methods to map human intestinal bacteria.
-The genetic analysis of intestinal ...
We may all be Martians -- new research supports theory that life started on Mars
2013-08-29
New evidence has emerged which supports the long-debated theory that life on Earth may have started on Mars.
Professor Steven Benner will tell geochemists gathering today (Thursday 29 Aug) at the annual Goldschmidt conference that an oxidized mineral form of the element molybdenum, which may have been crucial to the origin of life, could only have been available on the surface of Mars and not on Earth. "In addition", said Professor Benner "recent studies show that these conditions, suitable for the origin of life, may still exist on Mars."
"It's only when molybdenum ...
Magnetic charge crystals imaged in artificial spin ice
2013-08-29
A team of scientists has reported direct visualization of magnetic charge crystallization in an artificial spin ice material, a first in the study of a relatively new class of frustrated artificial magnetic materials-by-design known as "Artificial Spin Ice." These charges are analogs to electrical charges with possible applications in magnetic memories and devices. The research team's findings appear in the August 29 issue of the journal Nature.
The unique properties of spin ice materials have fascinated scientists since they were first discovered in the late 1990s in ...
Blocking molecular pathway reverses pulmonary hypertension in rats, Stanford study finds
2013-08-29
STANFORD, Calif. - Pulmonary hypertension, a deadly form of high blood pressure that develops in the lungs, may be caused by an inflammation-producing molecular pathway that damages the inner lining of blood vessels, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.
The results, which will be published Aug. 28 in Science Translational Medicine, suggest that using medications to block this pathway could lead to the first-known cure for the disease, apart from lung transplantation. The new research could also lead to a better understanding ...