Health Consequences and Risks
Moderate drinking—Dangers—Men vs. women—ARD
Does alcohol affect men and women differently?
Men are at much higher overall risk for abusing or becoming dependent on alcohol than women. According to the National Health Interview Survey, published by the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC), approximately 58 percent of adult males reported current drinking in 2005, as compared with 41 percent of adult women.
Women, however, are most at risk for developing a drinking problem in late life. Older women may be especially vulnerable to alcohol problems, for example, because they are more likely than men to outlive their spouses and face other losses that may lead to loneliness and depression. They also are less likely than men in the same age group to be financially independent. Physiologically, too, women are at greater risk for alcohol-related health problems as they age.
Generally speaking, men can drink more than women. This is because alcohol passes through the digestive tract and is dispersed in the water in the body. The more water available, the more diluted the alcohol. As a rule, men weigh more than women. Pound for pound, women have less water in their bodies than men, so a woman's brain and other organs are exposed to more alcohol before it is broken down. These differences play a role in both the short- and long-term effects of alcohol on women.
Medical literature actually describes older women as having what is called "telescoping of symptoms." Whereas men can have a 20- to 30-year career of heavy drinking and have moderate problems, women will have a much shorter period — perhaps five years — before they get into trouble. After just a few years, older women end up in treatment much more quickly than men because of the severe consequences they experience from lower-dose alcohol. Finally, there is some misunderstanding among older adults as to what constitutes an alcoholic beverage. In many cases, older adults don't even consider that drinks such as beer, wine, and sherry are alcoholic.
A free 12-minute video, Alcohol: A Women's Health Issue, is available by calling (301) 443-3860, or by writing the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Publications and Distribution Center, P.O. Box 10686, Rockville, MD 20849-0686. The film profiles women recovering from alcohol problems and describes the health consequences of heavy drinking in women. The video can also be ordered at this website: http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/english-order.htm, as can a PDF-format brochure of the same name.
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