Wine Drinking Linked to
Lower Lymphoma Risk
Excerpt By Keith Mulvihill, Reuter's Health

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Men who consume moderate amounts of wine on a regular basis seem to have a reduced chance of developing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, researchers report.

However, it is not clear if the wine itself--or some other lifestyle-related factor--is responsible for the risk reduction.

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma refers to several types of cancer that start in the lymphatic system but often spread throughout the body. It is the fifth most common cause of cancer in the US, according to the study's lead author Dr. Nathaniel C. Briggs of Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee.

Although a weakened immune system and exposure to certain chemicals on the job are linked to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, overall risk factors for the disease are "obscure," Briggs told Reuters Health.

"Because so few risk factors have been identified, efforts to prevent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma need to take protective factors into consideration," added Briggs.

While several studies have found that wine drinkers seem to be less likely to develop the disease, the research is inconclusive.

In a new study, Briggs and colleagues looked at 960 men between the ages of 32 and 60 who were diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma between 1984 and 1988. They compared the men's lifestyle habits with 1,717 similarly aged men who were cancer-free.

The investigators found that men who regularly drank an average of one or more glasses of wine daily, and who had been regular drinkers--averaging one or more alcoholic beverages per week from the time they were teenagers--had a more than threefold decrease in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma risk compared with nondrinkers, Briggs explained.

Among wine drinkers who started drinking at older ages, the protective effect against non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was less pronounced--a 30% reduction in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma risk with consumption of one or more glass of wine daily, the researcher added.

There was no link between consumption of beer or spirits and a higher or lower risk for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, according to the report in the September issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Although wine drinkers in the US tend to be wealthier than those who consume other types of beverages, the researchers tried to take that into account by correcting for education. However, there may have been other factors associated with higher income--such as a healthier lifestyle in general--which could not be taken into account because the researchers did not have that information.

"In no way do we endorse underage drinking," said Briggs. "In fact the absence of any protective effect for consumption of beer or spirits suggests that alcohol itself is not the protective factor."

Instead, Briggs noted that a chemical called resveratrol, which is "a phytoestrogen produced by grapes, and a natural ingredient in wine, has been shown to inhibit the initiation, as well as promotion and progression of cancer."

According to Briggs, "If the association is real, non-toxic non-Hodgkin's lymphoma prevention strategies might be possible, such as resveratrol-enriched table grapes or grape jelly." Red wine has higher levels of resveratrol, but the researchers did not determine if the men drank red or white wine, or a combination of both.

Briggs pointed out that the findings can't be extrapolated to consumption of more than one glass of wine per day, because there were too few heavier wine drinkers to investigate risk at higher levels. And, Briggs noted that because the study population was restricted to men, the findings may not be generalizable to women.

SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology 2002;156:454-462.

Reference Source 89

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