There is almost no good side to consuming alcohol and worse off if it is in high proportion.
But what is more disturbing about the consumption rate of alcohol by both men and women alike is that they have the tendencies to get addicted and develop terminal diseases than others.
But for women, according to Mr Emmanuel Dada, a psychologist, he explained that alcohol is a tool to overcome loneliness, depression, heartbreak, peer pressure, and to forget an unpleasant memory among other things.
Even though alcohol consumption is perceived to be a man’s delight, studies have shown women get addicted to it faster than men.
According to the US’ National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), more than 45 per cent of adult women report drinking alcohol in the last month, and 12 per cent of these report binge drinking.
About two-and-a-half per cent of women who drink meet the criteria for alcohol dependence.
Approximately one in two women of child-bearing age drink and 18 percent of women in this group binge drink (five drinks per binge, on average).
Mr Dada added that difference in brain chemistry and the influence of female sex hormones such as estrogens may account for women’s susceptibility to alcohol and other substances including stimulant like meth and cocaine.
“Worldwide, about 61.7 per cent of the population aged 15 years or older had not drunk alcohol in the past 12 months.
“In all World Health Organisation regions, females are more often lifetime abstainers than males. There is a considerable variation in prevalence of abstention across WHO regions.
“In general, the greater the economic wealth of a country, the more alcohol is consumed and the smaller the number of abstainers. High-income countries have the highest alcohol per capita consumption (APC) and the highest prevalence of heavy episodic drinking among drinkers.
“Although men are known to be frequent takers of alcohol, female tend to become addicted quickly once they are introduced to alcohol or drugs.
“The answer to this phenomenon is still under investigation, but experts in neuro-endocrinology assert that because hormones affect behaviour and so this reaction difference by sex could be due to hormonal differences.”
He also stated that women have a very distinct hormonal system which could indicate that they process the intake of alcohol quite differently from men.
Study shows that women typically have less body mass and less water content in their bodies than men. Body water diffuses alcohol content as it’s digested, which means women have a higher concentration of alcohol in their blood stream when they drink.
This not only causes women to become more impaired from drinking, but also exposes their brains and other organs to more alcohol before it’s broken down. This plays a role in the short- and long-term effects of alcohol on women.
Regardless of height and weight, women have a larger proportion of body fat compared to men, who have a larger proportion of muscle mass. Muscle mass contains 75 per cent water and body fat contains only 25 per cent water. Thus, women have less body water.
When alcohol enters the body, it diffuses uniformly into all body water. But because women have less water to dilute the alcohol, their blood alcohol concentration is higher.
Furthermore, women have lower levels of the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase. Alcohol dehydrogenase is the primary enzyme responsible for breaking down alcohol in the body. Found mostly in the stomach, this enzyme breaks down the majority of alcohol before it enters the blood stream. Women have lower levels of this enzyme, so they will absorb higher levels of alcohol into their bloodstream than men.
It is also established that women have increased hormonal fluctuations. Hormones get blamed way too much for female behaviour. It’s the scapegoat for every womanly problem, the excuse for every mood swing. But this is one situation where hormones really do play a part.
Fluctuations in hormone levels during the menstrual cycle will affect the rate of alcohol metabolism. Women tend to absorb alcohol faster and to a greater degree during the premenstrual phase (the time before the arrival of the period). Also, the estrogen in birth control pills extends the effects of alcohol.
According to the NIAAA, cirrhosis mortality rates are about two times higher in women than in men.
Women who drink have a higher risk for developing high blood pressure and stroke than men.
Women who drink more than 2 drinks a day are more at risk for developing breast cancer.
Women’s sleep is more easily disrupted by alcohol than men’s, NIAAA said.
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