Alcohol impact greater on women than on men

Men used to be the dominant alcohol drinkers in Western countries. But, as advertisers have devoted more effort in marketing to women, the imbalance between male and female drinkers has decreased.

While it is almost twice as likely for men to binge drink than women, the disparity is no longer correct for the younger generations. For example, women born between 1991 and 2000 now drink as much as men born during the same period, and some epidemiologists think that the rate of drinking for women might eventually be greater than for men.

Women are developing health problems due to excessive alcohol consumption, with increased death rates in the US from cirrhosis for women between 2000 and 2015.

The health risk to women is not only caused by increased alcohol consumption. Researchers have found that alcohol affects women and men differently.

Studies have found that a woman’s body produces a smaller quantity of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), an enzyme discharged by the liver, which breaks down any alcohol present in the body.

Also, water helps the body to disperse alcohol, while fat causes the body to retain it. Since a woman’s body naturally has a lower level of water and a higher level of fat than a man’s body, women experience a greater physiological effect from alcohol consumption.

Dawn Sugarman, a professor at Harvard Medical School, said that the difference in body chemistry between men and women makes women more likely than men to experience disorders related to alcohol abuse.