Red wine 'fights lung cancer'
2004-10-28 09:53
Paris - Drinking red wine may help protect against lung cancer, although white wine may slightly enhance the risk, according to a statistical study, conducted among Spanish men, that is published on Thursday.
Researchers at the University of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain interviewed 132 patients with lung cancer and 187 people who had had minor surgery.
The volunteers, most of whom were in their sixties, were asked about their occupation, their eating and drinking habits and whether they smoked.
One in four of the cancer patients did not drink, compared with almost one in five among the other group. The drinkers in both groups drank roughly three and a half glasses of wine a day.
Each daily glass of red wine gave protection of around 13% against lung cancer when compared with non-drinkers. Rose wine had no impact but there was "a very slight but significant" increased risk of cancer from drinking white wine, although far fewer patients drank this.
Beer and spirits had no apparent effect.
The authors, who publish their work in a specialist British journal, Thorax, say that further work is needed in the laboratory to explore this statistical link.
Previous research has also found a connection between moderate drinking of red wine and lower rates of ovarian cancer and heart disease.