More research points to the medicinal effects of red wine. Researchers say the consumption of more than three glasses of red wine a week reduced the risk of colon cancer.

Joseph C. Anderson, M.D, and his colleagues at SUNY Stony Brook, compared the drinking habits of 360 red and white wine drinkers with similar lifestyles as part of a study examining the prevalence of colorectal neoplasia.

They found that drinking red wine significantly reduced the risk of colorectal neoplasia by 68 percent, but drinking white wine did not. Researchers suspect that higher concentrations of the compound resveratrol in red wine may provide a protective effect against colon cancer.

The research highlights the potential role of red wine in chemoprevention of colon cancer, but when it comes to proven prevention strategies, doctors say screening for colorectal cancer remains essential and is the most proven preventative measure that individuals can use to reduce their risk of developing this disease.

Screening tests can find precancerous polyps, allowing removal before they turn into cancer.

Colorectal cancer is one of the most detectable, and if found early enough, the most treatable forms of cancer, according to the American College of Gastroenterology.

He first played on professional football teams, the San Diego Chargers, the Houston Oilers, and the Kansas City Chiefs, and then found fame and fortune in professional wrestling, a sport that landed him in the World Wrestling Federation Hall of Fame.

He is Ernie “Big Cat” Ladd. And on Saturday night, he died of cancer at the age of 68.

Ladd’s battle with cancer began in 2004. It started in his colon and later spread to his stomach and bones.

“The doctor told me I had three-to-six months to live,” Ladd said in 2005. “I told him Dr. Jesus has the verdict on me.”

It seems the great doctor gave Ladd, the 15th player taken in the 1961 AFL draft, more than a few months, proof that numbers are not everything in the game of cancer.

Ladd, almost 6-foot-10 and more than 300 pounds, started making appearances at wrestling events during his football career. He was first a special events referee and then became a wrestler. It was both a knee injury and the lure of the lucrative wrestling industry that ended Ladd’s football career.

“In what other sport can you pick up a $14 pair of boots, $0.59 socks, spend maybe a total of $50, and convert it into $100,000 a year, if you are sharp and train?” Ladd once said. “My intention was to go back to football, but pro wrestling was so good to me.”