Women, Alcohol and Health Risks

In the early days of Alcoholics Anonymous, few women joined. The stigma regarding women and alcohol was worse than it was for men. After decades of evolving attitudes, society realized that alcoholism is alcoholism, regardless of whether a man or woman does the drinking. Now, you are likely to see more women than men in some AA groups. There are also specialty AA groups that are specifically for women. For all the commonality between men and women alcoholics, though, there are also real differences in the way alcohol affects women. This is from Drinkaware.co.uk about women, alcohol and health risks.

Women start to have alcohol-related problems at lower drinking levels than men do. They tend to absorb more alcohol and take longer to break it down and remove it from their bodies. So, when drinking equal amounts, women will have higher alcohol levels in their blood than men, and the immediate effects happen quicker and last longer.

There are a few reasons for this

• On average women weigh less than men.

• Alcohol disperses in body water, and pound for pound, women have less water in their bodies than men do.

• So after a man and woman of the same weight drink the same amount of alcohol, the woman’s blood alcohol concentration will tend to be higher – this puts women at greater risk of harm.

• As a result, a woman’s brain and other organs tend to be exposed to more alcohol, as well as to more of the potentially harmful by-products which result when the body breaks down and eliminates alcohol.

Women have more health incentives to stop drinking, although men will eventually break down their bodies and brains given enough time. It pays to know the facts regarding drinking alcohol — beer commercials won’t tell women these facts, not will the local bartender, and, unfortunately, most health care professionals will not talk about this with females who show signs of heavy drinking.