Is Alochol Bad for Women?

According to Charlie Stross:

[A] lot of headlines and newspaper column-inches were devoted to the shocking findings of a recent survey of women's health that apparently indicated that drinking any alcohol at all correlated with an elevated risk of cancer:

Even small amounts of alcohol increase a woman's risk of cancer" (The Guardian)"

"Drink a day increases cancer risk" (The BBC)

"Even a little alcohol ups cancer risk in women" (Reuters)

Daily drink for middle-age women cancer risk (Washington Post, syndicated)

But were those reports accurate?


Stross says no, and provides some proofs. He goes on to sum up the abstract- which appears to be the only portion of the actual study the reporters looked at:

"Alcohol is evil. We know this because it is True. And it's especially bad for women because, well, women shouldn't drink. If you run a study to confirm this belief and the facts don't back you up, the facts are wrong. So tell the public the Truth (alcohol is always evil) and bury the facts; the press won't be able to tell the difference because they're (a) lazy (or overworked, take your pick) and (b) statistically innumerate."

There is a general sentiment, among many people, to accept what one group says or another. I'm choosing to accept what Charlie Stross and Sandy Szwarc have to say. Why? Read Stross's post, and the article at Junkfood Science. The numbers tell a different story than what some are reporting, and the paper's authors are trying to say. How could that be?

(from Junkfood Science, linked and cited in Charlie Stross' post)

“[Moderate drinking] is a level of consumption that generally has been found in scientific studies to be associated with a relatively low risk of harms,” said Robert Brewer of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.* “But low risk does not mean no risk.”

* The newspaper failed to disclose that Dr. Brewer is manager and director of the Alcohol Team at the CDC; serves as Principal Investigator for Alcohol-Related Disease Impact software, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; and has authored numerous publications on alcohol and alcohol-related health effects.

Drink. It's good for you- if you're a woman and have no more than 2 drinks every day.