Teenage binge drinking link with breast cancer

Teenage girls who drink alcohol most days of the week have been shown by recent research to be five times more likely to develop benign breast disease, and that the development of benign breat disease can increase their risk of developing breast cancer.

It is already know that excessive alcohol consumption increases the risk of breast cancer in adult women, and approximately 600 women in England each year die from breast cancer caused by their drinking. In recent years binge drinking among teenage girls has increased dramatically. Research has found that in some parts of the country girls aged between 11 and 15 are now drinking up to a bottle and a half of wine a week – more than is safe for an adult woman.

Recent research from America has found that drinking from an early age increases the risk of benign breast disease. The girls in the study who drank on six or seven days a week were more than five times more likely to develop benign breast disease.

The research was based at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis and Harvard University, and studied nearly 7000 girls aged between 9 and 15, and analysed their alcohol consumption.

One of the researchers, Dr Graham Colditz said: "Our study clearly showed that the risk of benign breast disease increased with the amount of alcohol consumed in this age group. The study is an indication that alcohol should be limited in adolescence and early adult years and further focuses our attention on these years as key to preventing breast cancer later in life.

"We know from many other studies of adult women that alcohol intake later in life increases breast cancer risk. But many women begin drinking alcohol as adolescents right at the time in which breast tissue is going through stages of rapid proliferation. So we wanted to see if the effect of alcohol on breast cancer risk was operative in this younger group."

The effects of alcohol can be very serious and if you want to know a little bit more information take a look at our Oy! advice page, but as with any health related issue if you are worried always speak to a parent or your local GP.