Researchers from the U.S. and U.K. revealed that a bottle of wine is equivalent to smoking 10 cigarettes, and, therefore, would increase cancer risks for women.
Likewise, men drinking a bottle of wine a week would be subject to higher cancer chances in body parts like the bowel, liver and oesophagus, as much as smoking five cigarettes.
"Our estimation of a cigarette equivalent for alcohol provides a useful measure for communicating possible cancer risks that exploits successful historical messaging on smoking. We hope that by using cigarettes as the comparator we could communicate this message more effectively to help individuals make more informed lifestyle choices," lead study author Dr. Theresa Hydes, of the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, said in a statement.
Scientists in BMC Public Health estimated that if 1,000 non-smoking men and women drank a bottle of wine weekly in their life, then around 10 men and 14 women of them may have cancer. If they drank three bottles a week, them around 19 men and 36 women of them could develop cancer.
The study authors pointed out the limitations of the study as it only considers cancer risk and not other diseases tied to smoking or alcohol use.
“These findings highlight moderate levels of drinking as an important public health issue," the authors concluded.
