White Wine May Increase Chance of Deadly Skin Cancer
White Wine Increases Chance of Skin Cancer
In the category that everything gives you cancer...
New research shows drinking white wine could increase the chance of skin cancer.
Why White Wine?
Alcohol is responsible for about 4 percent of cancer cases.
Researchers believe that ethanol is metabolised into acetaldehyde in the liver, a build-up of which is known to prevent repair of skin cell DNA. DNA is damaged by exposure to UV rays contained in sunlight.
White wine contains more acetaldehyde (and less of the cancer protective anti-oxidants) compared to other popular forms of alcohol. White wine drinkers in the US were found to have a 13 percent increase in the rate of melanoma
Malignant melanoma is a type of cancer that is associated with exposure to ultraviolet light from the sun or other sources. Melanoma causes a large majority of skin cancer deaths.
Skin Cancer Prevention
If you drink white wine, you might want to consider reserving it for special occasions. And you may want to sample a few reds as well.
Regardless, most fair to olive skin types should have an annual skin check as early detection is the best way to avoid potentially harmful effects of Skin Cancer.
Supporting Research
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent, spoke about this white wine connection this week.
A team of researchers from Harvard and Brown universities looked into alcohol consumption and cancer among 210,252 people. The study found that each drink of white wine was associated with a 13 percent increase in melanoma. Courtesy: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention - Dec 2016
Dr John Donnellan,
Skin Cancer Specialist
Sydney Australia
