Occasional use of alcohol for enjoyment and drinking on special and social occasions is considered as normal and acceptable even for women. It’s observed that proportionately more men are alcoholic as compared to women. Still women are more vulnerable than men to alcohol-related health problems, organ damage and sufferings resulting from road accidents.
Alcoholic women are more prone to a number of health and social problems. This includes getting into criminal activities, mental disorders, unprotected intercourse, sexually transmitted diseases like HIV, poor birth results and so on.
Alcoholic women are more vulnerable to alcohol-related problems because of the differences in the way women absorb and metabolize alcoholic beverages. Compared to women, men are large and have more muscle mass so they have more body water per pound than women.
This means that women have less body water than men of same body weight and hence women are subject to higher blood concentrations of alcohol after drinking the same amounts of alcohol.
It happens that women generally have drinking patterns like those of their husband or lover and their friends. Studies show that women, who drink, get drunk quicker than men. There is also evidence that women get addicted and alcoholic faster than men and hence suffer from alcohol-related illnesses and may die earlier as compared to men.
These days more women are drinking to deal with stress and work pressures. Young professionally employed females are drinking more after work; similarly mothers with small children are drinking more often at home.
Alcoholic women have higher risk of developing serious illnesses like:
1. An increased risk of heart disease.
2. Liver disease- The effects of alcohol on the liver are more severe for women than for men. Alcoholic women develop liver diseases mainly alcoholic cirrhosis and hepatitis.
3. Cancer- A study showed that a woman's risk of breast cancer rises with the amount of alcohol regularly consumed. Excessive alcohol consumption by women also increases their risk of several digestive-tract related cancers.
4. Ulcers.
5. Reproductive problems- Chronic heavy drinking can lead to fertility problems. If a pregnant woman continues to drink, it can lead to a miscarriage. It can also cause Fetal Alcohol Effects, which are birth defects that are irreversible.
6. Osteoporosis.
7. Pancreatitis.
8. Memory loss and brain damage- Alcoholic women experience more brain damage and sooner as compared to their male counterparts. Some studies have shown that thinking and cognitive abilities in alcoholic women gets affected due to heavy drinking.
9. Alcoholic women also develop hypertension, anemia, and malnutrition at a later stage.
10. Menstrual disorders have also been related with persistent heavy drinking and may lead to early menopause also.
11. More than 150 medicines intermingle harmfully with alcohol. Many cough and cold medicines can increase the sedative effects of alcohol.
Alcoholic women have death rates 50% to 100% higher than those of alcoholic men. In such cases most female alcoholics die from suicide, alcohol-related accidents and diseases.
To put it simple and straight, women pay a higher price for alcoholism than men.
