good news if you like your red..

[fullofbeans]

Thanks hopefull,

your post conclusion is

"Conclusion: These results suggest that women who consume alcohol before a diagnosis of breast cancer have improved survival, which does not appear to be attributable to differences in stage, screening, or treatment. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2008;17(8):1988–96)"

This leaves me perplex. Is it about people that used to consume alcohol then stopped and now have a better chance?? this could make sense I met a few reformed alcoholic that should have died of cancer but that are still around and well (they had stopped drinking upon diagnosis). If their immune system were always low before the cancer but given a chance to recover after and battle perhaps they would have never have had cancer at the first place if they had not been drinking..

[Hopeful]

fullofbeans,

This is going to sound silly, but the study was designed to look only at what women did prior to dx, and not what their behavior was after dx. So, the answer to your question whether this is about former drinkers who reformed after dx having better survival is one the study doesn't ask or answer - it just shows the difference in survival rates for women who consumed alcohol prior to dx vs. those that did not.

Hopeful

[MJo]

I'm happy for all you wine drinkers. Before my diagnosis, I drank red wine. Health benefits, considered classier than beer, etc. After diagnosis, I decided that -- within reason -- I'm going to do darn well what I please. I love beer. Phooey to those classy little glasses of red and white. Give me a big brown glass of Ringness Dark.