Women and Alcohol

Fewer women than men drink alcohol but they appear to be more vulnerable to the harmful consequences of alcohol use.  When drinking the same amounts of alcohol, women achieve higher levels of alcohol in the blood and become more impaired than men.  Among heavy drinkers, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) of the US Dept. of Health and Human Services, female alcoholics have death rates 50 to 100 percent higher than those of male alcoholics, including deaths from suicides, alcohol-related accidents, heart disease, and stroke and liver cirrhosis.

• Moderation is defined as no more than one drink per day for women.  One drink is 12 oz. of regular beer, 5 oz. of wine, and 1.5 oz. of 80 proof spirits.
  
• It is estimated that of the 15.1 million alcohol-abusing or alcohol-dependent individuals in the United States, approx 4.6 million (1/3) are women.
  
• One study showed that 40% of alcoholic women attempted suicide, compared to 8.8% of non-alcoholic women
  
• Women who drink may also be at an increased risk for breast cancer.  In one study, women who drank 2 to 5 alcoholic drinks each day were 41 percent more likely to develop breast cancer than nondrinkers.