One study found that women who drink wine are less likely to develop dementia in middle-age, particularly women that drink wine exclusively. Women who reported drinking wine, beer and spirits were 40% less likely to develop dementia. The risk dropped almost 70% in women who consumed only wine. By contrast, women who drank liquor had an increased risk of dementia. The study is based on a random sample of nearly 1,500 women living in Gothenburg, Sweden who, beginning in 1968, were followed for 34 years.
So what makes wine so special? Researchers said antioxidants found in wine and not beer and liquor might help prevent dementia. Also, the wine drinkers may have certain characteristics the researchers are unable to measure.
Another study found that resveratrol, a compound found in red wine, may kill pancreatic cancer cells. Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center found that resveratrol in combination with radiation, but not alone, helped fight pancreatic cells.
"While additional studies are needed, this research indicates that resveratrol has a promising future as part of the treatment for cancer," lead investigator Dr. Paul Okunieff said in a university statement.
One study, however, gave the industry something to blush about. New research confirms what researchers have long suspected: alcohol increases women's risk of breast cancer. Researchers from the University of Chicago found that post-menopausal women who drink even moderately (one or two drinks per day) raise their risk of developing the most common form of breast cancer. Women who had three or more glasses of alcohol a day increased their chance for developing breast cancer by 51%. Drinking was also blamed for the rising numbers of women with liver and fertility problems.
