The Femitist

This article discusses breast cancer risk and alcohol consumption. It discusses that women who drink increase their risk for breast cancer but that women who drink red wine reduce their risk for heart disease. In the end, heart disease kills more women than breast cancer.

The article goes on to talk about the beneficial health effects of resveratrol. However, this study does not use a matched random sample and it does not acknowledge that breast cancer risk factors and genetics are not homogeneous considerations. Many women get breast cancer who never drink alcohol and many women who drink heavily live their entire life without getting breast cancer or cardiovascular diseases. Risk factors and genetics are considerations but they should not be the primary focus of the research.

Like in the article “Case studies in the co-production of populations and genetics: The making of ‘at risk popualtions’ in BRCA genetics” this study is very narrowly focus which diminishes its credibility. In the BRCA genetics studies, scientists focused on culture and eugenics as factors in BRCA mutation. They especially focused on European Jews, instead of focusing on cancer itself. Further, they looked at BRCA mutation as the key risk factor of cancer but in the big picture many women who have BRCA mutation will never get cancer and many women who get cancer do not have the BRCA mutation.

These studies should focus on multiple approaches to the problem, specifically examining the sociocultural context of breast cancer. Many studies show us that lifestyle is a big factor in cancer so we should be encouraging lifestyle changes rather than focusing on ancestry.