Wine may lower risk of Barrett’s esophagus
March 2, 2009 by Marijke Durning, RN
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
If you experience gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) frequently and it’s left untreated, you may be at risk of developing Barrett’s esophagus. Although rare (less than 1%), it is often the precursor to esphageal cancer.
Reducing the effects of GERD may involve lifestyle changes (losing weight, not wearing tight waist lines, raising the head of your bed, for example) or it may involve taking medications. This should be discussed with your doctor and a lot depends on the severity of your disease. However, new research has found that drinking one glass of wine per day may lower the risk of Barrett’s esophagus by over 50%. Interestingly, other alcohol, including beer, didn’t have the same effect.
Study findings were published in the March edition of Gastroenterology. Researchers looked at 953 men and women in Northern California and found that those who drank one or more glasses of red or white wine a day had less than half the risk of developing Barrett’s esophagus.
You can read more about the study and its findings in this press release, Drinking wine lowers risk of Barrett’s esophagus, precursor to nation’s fastest growing cancer.
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Image: morguefile.com
Tags: cancer blog, esophageal cancer, barretts esophagus, GERD, gastroesophageal reflux disease
