Nine in ten people are unaware that red wine increases the chances of developing cancer, suggests a new survey.
The survey has found that 87 percent of British adults do not know that drinking red wine could increase their risk of cancer.
Latest reports suggest that the harmful effects of alcohol, including the risk of cancer outweigh the health benefits that were earlier associated with drinking red wine.
Survey results show that younger people were better aware of the ill effects. Around 27 percent of individuals in the age group of 18 to 24 years identified it as a risk factor, as compared to merely 6 percent of the people above 55 years old.
Meanwhile, results indicate that nearly three quarters (75 percent) of the people are aware that inherited genes are linked to cancer, although this factor accounts for less than one in ten cases.
Findings suggest that people are not clear, about what increases their risk of cancer or what they can do reduce their risk.
What do experts say?
World Cancer Research Fund said that not drinking alcohol is one of the important steps to reduce the risk of cancer. Other ways include not smoking and maintaining a healthy weight.
“It is very worrying, but not surprising, that so few people know that red wine increases cancer risk when there are so many contradictory messages out there,” said Sarah Toule, head of health Information at World Cancer Research Fund.
“All types of alcohol increase the risk of a number of different cancers. We recommend that people don’t drink any alcohol for cancer prevention.”
“It can be hard for people to not drink at all, so we’d encourage them to be ‘alcohol savvy’ if they drink. For example, add a low-calorie mixer to your alcohol and, in between each alcoholic drink, have a glass of water,” said Toule.
“It’s also really important to not binge-drink, and to spread your weekly limit of seven drinks over a number of days as well as keeping a few days alcohol-free,” she added.
World Cancer Research Fund was the first organization to identify the effect of physical activity, diet and weight on the risk of cancer.
“Cancer is a devastating disease and we are working for a world free of preventable cancers,” said Dr. Rachel Thompson, Head of Research Interpretation at World Cancer Research Fund.
“With so many people being diagnosed with cancer, we want people to know what factors are increasing their risk, such as red wine so that they can make informed choices to help reduce their risk,” said Thompson.
The survey included 2000 British adults, checking their awareness on whether factors like red wine, ham, and stress were linked to cancer. It was released in line with Cancer Prevention Month.
