Drinking Wine Linked to Lower Lung Cancer Risk

Filed in archive Wine News on December 16, 2007

The ping-pong of wine's health benefits continue. This time, score one for the "healthful" side. A recent study published in the November issue of Cancer Epidemiological Markers & Prevention shows that although there is a correlation between lung cancer risk and certain kinds of alcohol, wine in not among them.

From Wine Spectator:

When [Chun] Chao [research associate at the department of research and evaluation at Kaiser Permanente, Southern California] compared instances of lung cancer against the frequency and type of beverage consumed, the results showed that wine drinkers had a lower risk of lung cancer compared to nondrinkers, regardless of their level of consumption. They also showed a lower risk than those who drank other types of alcohol. Drinking less than one glass of wine per day correlated to a 23 percent lower risk of developing lung cancer, and drinking one or more glasses per day was equal to a 22 percent lower risk when compared to nondrinkers...

Chao cautioned that his findings do not necessarily show a direct cause-and-effect relationship between alcohol consumption and lung cancer. However, he speculated that drinking wine did not correlate to an added risk of lung cancer for two main reasons. The first is that wine does not contain certain carcinogens, such as nitrosamines, cancer-linked compounds sometimes found in brewed beverages and products preserved with nitrites. Second, antioxidant chemicals, which are believed to have anti-cancer properties, are found in greater abundance in wine and may offset any added risk that comes with ingesting the alcohol itself.

I'd be curious about how smoking relates to those statistics as well. Are wine drinkers less likely to smoke than, say, hard liquor drinkers? During my bar-hopping days I remember all too well the smoke-filled rooms. Perhaps that plays into the equation as well. At any rate, the findings are interesting and I'll be following as more information is released.