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Alcohol abuse poses huge health risks on women
2007-10-25 09:30:40
By Ebbinah Clorah
Alcohol abuse among women presents yet another challenge in the area of maternal health.
Even when taken in small amounts, alcohol affects women differently than it does with men. In some ways, heavy drinking is much more risky for women than it is for men.
There are times and ways to drink that are safer than others. No amount of drinking is 100 percent safe for every woman.
With this in mind, it is important to know how alcohol can affect a woman\'s health and safety.
Statistics indicate the fact that 13 percent have more than seven alcoholic drinks per week.
For women, this level of drinking is above the recommended limits.
Excessive intake of alcohol can increase the risk for motor vehicle crashes, other injuries, high blood pressure, stroke, violence, suicide, and certain types of cancer.
Some people should not drink at all, including: anyone under age 21, people of any age who are unable to restrict their drinking to moderate levels, women who may become pregnant or who are pregnant, people who plan to drive, operate machinery, or take part in other activities that require attention, skill, or coordination, people taking prescription or over-the-counter medications that can interact with alcohol.
One might wish to find out why lower levels of drinking are recommended for women as opposed to men. The answer is simple and plain, women are at greater risk than men for developing alcohol-related problems.
Alcohol passes through the digestive tract and is dispersed in natural body fluids.
The more water available, the more diluted the alcohol.
The difference is that women have less water in their bodies than men, therefore, a woman`s brain and other organs are easily exposed to alcohol and toxic byproducts.
Let us also keep in mind that the alcohol content of different types of beer, wine, and distilled spirits can vary quite substantially.
Moderate drinking can have short- and long-term health effects, both positive and negative. Some of the benefits are that heart disease which was once thought of as a threat mainly to men, also is the leading killer of women.
Drinking moderately may lower the risk for coronary heart disease, mainly among women over age 55.
However, there are other factors that reduce the risk of heart disease, including a healthy diet, exercise, not smoking, and keeping a healthy weight.
Moderate drinking provides little, if any, health benefits for younger people, infact heavy drinking can actually damage the heart.
On the other hand there are the risks of drinking and driving. It doesn`t take much alcohol to impair a person\'s ability to drive.
The chances of being killed in a single-vehicle crash are increased at a blood alcohol level that a woman would reach after having one drink on an empty stomach.
Also, alcohol can interact with a wide variety of medicines, both prescription and over-the-counter. Alcohol can reduce the effectiveness of some medications, and it can combine with other medications to cause or increase side effects.
Alcohol can interact with medicines used to treat conditions as varied as heart and blood vessel disease, digestive problems, and diabetes.
In particular, alcohol can increase the sedative effects of any medication that causes drowsiness, including cough and cold medicines and drugs for anxiety and depression. When taking any medication, read package labels and warnings carefully.
Breast cancer is another issue. Research suggests that as little as one drink per day can slightly raise the risk of breast cancer in some women, especially those who have a family history of breast cancer.
It is not possible, however, to predict how alcohol will affect the risk for breast cancer in any one woman.
Pregnant women with a history of excessive alcohol may expose the unborn baby to a birth defect called fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS).
Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is cause of mental impairment but is however preventable.
Babies with FAS have distinctive changes in their facial features. The brain damage that occurs with FAS can result in lifelong problems with learning, memory, attention, and problem solving.
These alcohol-related changes in the brain may be present even in babies whose appearance and growth are not affected.
It is not known if there is any safe drinking level during pregnancy; nor is there any stage of pregnancy in which drinking at any level is known to be risk free.
If a woman is pregnant, or wants to become pregnant, she should not drink alcohol. Even if she is pregnant and already has consumed alcohol, it is important to stop drinking for the rest of her pregnancy. Stopping can reduce the chances that her child might be harmed by alcohol.
Another risk of drinking is that a woman may at some point abuse alcohol or become alcoholic (alcohol dependent). Drinking more than seven drinks per week increases a woman\'s chances of abusing or becoming dependent on alcohol.
Even women who drink fewer than seven drinks a week are at increased risk of developing alcohol abuse or dependence if they occasionally have four or more drinks on any given day.
Research has shown that drinkers who are able to handle a lot of alcohol all at once are at higher, not lower risk of developing problems, such as dependence on alcohol.
More women are now drinking in a way that threatens their health, safety, and general well-being.
A strong case can be made that heavy drinking is more risky for women than men. Heavy drinking increases a woman\'s risk of becoming a victim of violence and sexual assault.
Drinking over the long term is more likely to damage a woman\'s health than a man\'s, even if the woman has been drinking less alcohol or for a shorter length of time than the man. The health effects of alcohol abuse and alcoholism are serious.
Some specific health problems include: Alcoholic liver disease: Women are more likely than men to develop alcoholic hepatitis (liver inflammation) and to die from cirrhosis. Brain disease is yet another one.
Most alcoholics have some loss of mental function, reduced brain size, and changes in the function of brain cells. Research suggests that women are more vulnerable than men to alcohol-induced brain damage.
Many studies report that heavy drinking increases the risk of breast cancer. Alcohol also is linked to cancers of the digestive tract and of the head and neck (the risk is especially high in smokers who also drink heavily).
Chronic heavy drinking is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease. Among heavy drinkers, men and women have similar rates of alcohol-related heart disease, even though women drink less alcohol over a lifetime than men.
Finally, many alcoholics smoke; smoking in itself can cause serious long-term health consequences.
The pressures to drink more than what is safe and the consequences change as the roles that mark a woman\'s life span change.
Knowing the signs that drinking may be a problem instead of a pleasure can help women who choose to drink do so without harm to themselves or others.
Next week we will look at how alcohol affects women throughout their life span.
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