Feb. 25th

Is drinking alcohol good for a woman's health or bad for it? How about aresounding it depends.And what it depends on is whether you're a woman more at risk for breastcancer or heart attacks. New research is showing that even moderate drinking can increase a woman'srisk for certain types of cancer, in particular breast and liver cancer. In a newly released study, scientists compared light drinkers, those havingtwo or less a week, with those drinking more. And each extra drink per dayabove that increased a women's risk for breast, liver and rectal cancer. They also found that drinking alcohol may account for about 13 percent ofthese types of cancers in women. But now it starts to get more than alittle confusing. That's because earlier studies have shown that onedrink a day for women can cut their risk of heart attacks and strokes.So what does it all mean? Now we get back to the "it depends" part ofthis. You need to look and see what you're at the greatest risk from,based on your personal and family history. If you're at a high risk forthese cancers and particularly breast cancer, than drinking alcohol can bebad for you. If on the other hand you're at a bigger risk of having aheart attack or stroke, then one drink a day can help keep you healthy. You best bet is to talk this over with your doctor and see where you stand.