Alcohol’s unique harmful effect on women

Alcohol’s unique harmful effect on women  

There is a striking difference between men and women when it comes to drinking alcohol. The saying “a woman should not try to keep up with a man when it comes to drinking” is very true. Much of this has to do with how men and women’s bodies process alcohol.  Even if there is a man and woman who are of identical heights and body weight, they will both experience different effects after consuming the same amount of a beverage containing alcohol.

Because women are more vulnerable and adversely affected by alcohol’s consequences, it is vital for women to understand why they are not on the same level playing field as a man when it comes to drinking booze.

This does not mean a woman cannot enjoy moderate drinking on occasion, but to over-imbibe could spell trouble affecting her in various ways. 

Why do women process alcohol differently than men?

To have a good understanding of this difference in alcohol processing among the sexes, it is important to know why men can handle alcohol better than women:

·      Men are larger in size with more blood volume and less body fat than women

·      Men have a higher concentration of dehydrogenase – an enzyme that breaks alcohol down.

Women have many physiological factors making them at a greater risk of excessive alcohol consumption for the following reasons:

·      Women have a lower percent body water content.  The average man is composed of about 61 percent water while the average woman’s body water content is only around 52 percent.  This makes a huge benefit for men as their body is naturally equipped to dilute alcohol more efficiently than a woman’s body – no matter how much they weigh.

·      Women have lower concentrations of dehydrogenase.  This enzyme is necessary to metabolize or break down alcohol before entering into the bloodstream.  Having lowered levels of this enzyme means a woman’s body will process the alcohol much more slowly than a man’s body does.

·      Women have more hormonal changes.  One hormonal change in women is right before her menstrual cycle there are variations that can result in a woman becoming intoxicated faster. Also any woman who takes estrogen-added medications like birth control pills can experience a longer effect of intoxication.  This is due to the medication slowing down the rate at which the body can eliminate the alcohol content.

·      Women have a higher concentration of body fat.  Having more body fat will affect the rate of absorption and metabolizing of alcohol.  Body fat does not absorb alcohol which results in the alcohol content remaining in a highly concentrated form in the bloodstream.  This can lead to women becoming intoxicated much faster than men.

Alcohol can be more damaging to women than men

Not only do women metabolize and process alcohol differently than men, they are also more at risk of the damaging effects alcohol has on their body:

·      The National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse has stated that when it comes to developing serious health issues from alcohol abuse, women are at a greater risk.  One consequence is developing liver cirrhosis – more women who are alcoholics will die from cirrhosis each year than men who are alcoholics.

·      Heavy drinking among women makes them more likely to develop high blood pressure in addition to damage to the brain and pancreas then men who drink heavily.

·      A woman who has battled heavy drinking for years is vulnerable to nerve damage and weakening of the heart muscle even if they have drank less than a man.

·      Women who drink when compared to women who don’t, have an increased risk of osteoporosis (thinning bones), falls and hip fractures, premature menopause, infertility and miscarriages, and heart disease.

·      Women drinking heavily during pregnancy are putting their baby at risk for being born with fetal alcohol syndrome, a lifelong condition leading to facial abnormalities, learning and behavioral problems and other problems.

·      A woman’s risk of developing breast cancer is raised when women drink alcohol.  Each additional 4 ounce or 10 grams of alcohol per day raises the relative risk of developing this disease over a lifetime by about 10%.

Any woman or man who is experiencing or battling alcohol abuse, should seek out help to be treated for their problem as soon as possible.  Alcoholism can be treated and the sooner a person addresses this issue, the sooner they can avoid lifelong health consequences and personal issues.