We had been feeling pretty smug about drinking a glass of red wine with dinner. It certainly helps to relieve stress and, some studies suggest, reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease and might extend life spans.

So we were dismayed when epidemiologists at Oxford University recently concluded that women who drink even a moderate amount of alcohol — fewer than three drinks a day — increase their risk of contracting several cancers compared with women who drink no more than two drinks a week.

The researchers studied almost 1.3 million middle-aged women who attended breast cancer screening clinics in Britain and were tracked for an average of seven years. Women who reported drinking moderate amounts of alcohol suffered an increased risk of cancers of the breast, liver, rectum and, among current smokers, the upper aero-digestive tract. Each additional drink increased the risk, and it did not matter whether the alcohol was red or white wine, beer or hard liquor.

Not all of their conclusions were that grim. The study found that moderate drinking decreased the risk of thyroid cancer, renal cell cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. More confusingly, it showed that women who weren’t drinking at all when the research started actually had a higher rate of cancer than women who drank up to six drinks a week.

That hardly proves that moderate drinking cuts the risk of cancer, but it sure muddies the water. Although an American Cancer Society official found the study compelling, Donald A. Berry, chairman of biostatistics at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, considers it meaningless.

No one has yet determined whether any potential cancer risks from moderate drinking outweigh the possible, though disputed, health gains from a glass of red wine. When the final tally of risks and benefits is in, let us hope there is room for women to have a convivial drink with friends or a romantic dinner with wine.

在用餐的时候喝上一杯红酒，我们会觉得相当的满足。这样当然能够帮助我们舒缓压力，而且一些研究也表明，这样还能降低患上心血管疾病的风险，使得我们延年益寿。

正因如此，当牛津大学的流行病学者最近总结出，那些即使每天饮酒适量，不超过三杯的女性，她们患上某些癌症的风险都会大于那些一个星期都喝不上两杯的女性的结论的时候，我们会感到沮丧。

研究人员研究了接近一百三十万的中年女性。这些女性在英国加入了乳腺癌调查诊所，而且平均追踪调查时间都长达七年。报告中指出，饮酒适量的女性患乳腺癌，肝癌，直肠癌的风险会更加，如果当中有吸烟者的话，更会增加患上上呼吸－消化道癌症的风险。每一种酒都会增加这种风险，这与它们究竟是红酒，白酒，啤酒或者是烈酒无关。

其实并非所有结论都是那么的严峻。研究表明适量饮酒能够降低患上甲状腺癌，肾癌和非何杰金淋巴瘤的风险。更令人困惑的是，据说在调查一开始滴酒不沾的女性实际上患癌的几率要比那些一星期喝六杯的女性来的要高。

这确实很难证明适量饮酒能够降低患癌的风险，但却一定能够混淆视听。尽管一个美国癌症协会认为这个研究能够令人信服，但是在休斯顿的美国德克萨斯大学MD安德森癌症中心的生物统计学主席，唐纳德A.贝里却认为这个研究是毫无意义的。

目前还没有人能够确定饮酒适量是否真的能够增加患上某些潜在癌症的风险，尽管存在争议，但是一杯红酒还是可以使我们的健康收益。我们希望，当最终的风险和好处的统计数据出来的时候，我们能够留有余地，让女性朋友能够和她们的朋友欢快的喝酒或者是享受一个浪漫的红酒晚餐。