Drinking a bottle of wine per week increases the risk of cancer by the equivalent of smoking five to 10 cigarettes, experts claim.
They say this is due to the risk of cancer in the bowel, liver and oesophagus.
For women, drinking one bottle of wine per week increases the lifetime risk of cancer to the same extent as smoking 10 cigarettes a week, mostly due to an increased risk of breast cancer.
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For men, a bottle of wine is seen as being the same as smoking five cigarettes.
A research team from the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Bangor University and Southampton University carried out a study into the affects of
cigarettes and alcohol.
Dr Theresa Hydes, who worked on the project, said: “Our finds relate to lifetime risk across the population. At an individual level, cancer risk represented by drinking or smoking will vary.”
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Jane Green, professor of epidemiology at Oxford University, said: “For most smokers, their smoking carries much greater risks for cancer than alcohol does for most drinkers.
“Levels of drinking are in absolute terms particularly important for cancer risk in women because they are associated with increased risk of breast cancer.”
But a spokesman for Diageo – which makes Guinness, Smirnoff and Johnnie Walker – said: “Drinking is not the same as smoking, nor does it carry the same health risks. To make that comparison is misleading and will confuse people who want to enjoy alcohol in moderation.”
