Women and Alcohol: Risks, Benefits and Why We’re Different Center for Women’s Health

Dr. Grant says, “Yes, for some people, low doses of alcohol can increase attentiveness and activity and may reduce the risk of developing heart disease. “But, that doesn’t mean these health benefits outweigh the risk of developing an alcohol use disorder if someone engages regularly in heavy drinking, particularly in younger adults.” Only a small percentage of persons with alcohol misuse or alcohol use disorder (AUD) ever receive treatment in a formal, specialized alcohol treatment facility (Cohen et al, 2007; Lipari et al, 2016). Gender-specific results from the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) suggested that among persons with AUD in the past year, only 7.4% of men and 5.4% of women received treatment (SAMHSA, 2015). Thus, women with alcohol disorders appear to be under-represented in specialty alcohol and drug treatment facilities, despite having a shorter interval between drinking initiation and treatment entry (Alvanzo et al, 2014). In part, this may reflect that women are more likely to seek care in non-substance abuse settings, particularly primary care and mental health settings, where their drinking problems may not be recognized (Brienza and Stein, 2002).

Physical Signs of Liver Damage

It may not seem fair, but drinking just isn’t the same for women. Though men are more likely to have a drinking problem, there are unique physical and emotional factors that can lead women to have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol. While women’s drinking has increased, so have their recovery options. Many have found success with Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), but others have sought what they believe is a more women-centric approach.

• It’s critical to address and break through stigma, because it can make women less likely to admit they have a problem, thereby preventing them from seeking help (Copeland, 1997; Kulesza et al., 2013).
• Things that once mattered to a woman with an alcohol problem won’t be as important.
• In an increasingly go-go world, we’re looking for a way to unwind, and a glass of vino is often just the ticket.
• Similarly, binge drinking increased on average 3.7% per year among women ages 60+ while remaining stable among men ages 60+.

Support for Me and My Family

Addiction negatively affects the brain by impairing judgment and impulse control. In fact, MRI scans of people with addiction show that brain women and alcoholism activity in cognitive control regions is different than the activity in those without. For a long time, professionals believed that women with substance abuse problems were less likely than men to recover from them. Yet limited evidence on the matter was available, because many studies on the outcome of substance abuse treatment conducted before the 1990s enrolled only men. The few studies that enrolled both men and women did not examine the impact of gender differences.

Gender Differences in the Epidemiology of Alcohol Use and Related Harms in the United States

For example, there is more damage and inflammation in the female brain during alcohol withdrawal (Hashimoto and Wiren, 2008). Women also are at increased risk of alcohol-related heart disease, as well as immune and infectious diseases. Even moderate drinking elevates risk of E2 positive breast cancer. In one study, there was a 12% increase in breast cancer risk per 1 drink/day increase in average alcohol consumption. We know that alcohol induces widespread alterations in estrogen receptor physiology and function that in turn affect sensitivity and risk of estrogen positive breast cancer.

• “If you stick with low-risk amounts, by and large, unless you have other things going on, the risk is small, but it’s not zero,” says Richard Saitz, a primary care physician and professor at Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health.
• A woman who consumes two drinks per day has a 10 in 100 risk of developing breast cancer.
• Only 20% of women in the sample agreed to the statement that addiction is completely within a person’s control, yet 55% said they would feel embarrassed or ashamed if they had a drinking problem.
• “Antianxiety pills, like Xanax and Valium, can enhance the effects of alcohol and impair your alertness and ability to balance, putting you at risk for falling,” says Nieca Goldberg, a cardiologist and medical director at the Joan H. Tisch Center for Women’s Health at the NYU Langone Health medical center.
• Many rehabs also offer speciality programs tailored for the unique needs women may experience when struggling with addiction.

Drinking Regardless of Consequences

• These authors reiterated the importance of controlling for variables such as age, education, income, depressive symptoms, and smoking status in studies examining sex-related cognitive differences in relation to alcohol.
• Risks vs. Benefits Women who drink heavily (five or more drinks on the same occasion on five or more days per month) are more likely than men to develop liver disease (including hepatitis and cirrhosis) and to suffer from alcohol-induced brain damage.
• We also know that there are sex differences in brain anatomy, neurochemistry and function.

Hence enthusiastic all-women support networks at sites such as Sexy Sobriety, run by the Australian Rebecca Weller (author of the 2016 book A Happier Hour), Soberistas and Hip Sobriety. Women generally have a higher proportion of body fat than men, who possess more muscle mass. Because muscle contains more water than body fat, men are able to absorb more of the alcohol they consume.” In other words, if a man and woman of the same weight drink the same amount of alcohol, a woman’s blood alcohol concentration will be higher, says George F. Koob, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). When it comes to alcohol, as is the case with many things in life, practicing moderation is key.

Sex differences were speculated to be due to myriad factors including drinking patterns and alcohol-related pharmacokinetics. These increased rates of alcohol misuse among women are of considerable concern since women experience the harmful health and behavioral consequences of drinking sooner and at lower levels of alcohol exposure than men (Foster et al, 2014). We know that there are sex-specific differences in the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of alcohol (Thomasson, 1995). Women are generally smaller than men and have relatively less total body water and more total body fat. As a result, alcohol is more concentrated in a woman’s body; blood alcohol concentration rises faster and stays elevated longer in women than men.