Having a nodding awareness of the science could save one’s life. Thus, many women like to drink alcohol. Yet for some time there has been concerned about alcohol causing breast cancer, with statistics giving support. Yet for a hypothesis to become alive a causal mechanism is needed. Now, one recent attempt to explain this alcohol-cancer connection has been given which is summarised as follows: “Alcohol damages muscle cells, causing them to release excessive phosphate into the circulating blood serum. If the excess phosphorus is not eliminated through the kidneys, phosphorus accumulates in tissues, including the breasts, and causes cells to overgrow and produce tumors.” Does this mechanism also operate in men, perhaps causing prostate cancer?
My mother and grandmother, back in the day, were keen supporters of the temperance movement, which proclaimed the health and moral dangers of alcohol consumption. Alcohol is bad enough for men, but is a real danger for women.