Amongst the potential benefits seen in both in vitro and in vivo studies of light to moderate alcohol intake has been a possible reduction in risks of some types of cancer.  You can read more about this in both the Wine Inquirer archived article on Wine and Esophageal Cancer and a review article on Reveratrol.  Now comes a study from the National Institute of Health (NIH) that reports that alcohol consumption may offer a protective effect against developing thyroid cancer.

The research project, lead by cancer epidemiologist Cari Meinhold, examined data on 490,000 patients, aged 50-71 from United States metropolitan areas.  The participants in the study completed lifestyle questionnaires which included questions on alcohol consumption.  The study then followed up on the subjects 7 and ½ years later.

Culling the data, it was noted that 200 women and 170 men developed thyroid cancer.  The researchers then reviewed the habits of those who contracted the disease versus those who did not.  The results appeared to indicate that the risk of thyroid cancer decreased around 6% for every 10 grams of alcohol consumed daily.  For the purposes of this study, one drink contains 13-14 grams of alcohol which translates approximately into 12 oz of beer, 5 oz of wine or 1.5 oz of spirits (hard liquor).

Scientists still don’t understand the details behind why alcohol seems to have a protective effect against thyroid cancer and caution that they did not evaluate the risk:benefit balance related to alcohol consumption.  While not stated explicitly, this implies that the researchers acknowledge that alcohol consumption, at some level, does present risks.  At this point, this is another of the many studies that seem to point toward a possible benefit of responsible alcohol consumption but acknowledging, as usual, that there are risks as well.

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Tags: alcohol, thyroid cancer