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How many women are affected?

• About 1.6 million alcoholics in the U.S. are women.
  
  
• Women are the fastest growing segment of the alcohol abusing population.

Which women have the highest risk of alcohol abuse and alcoholism?

• Women who have family histories of alcoholism.
• Women who are victims of violence as children or adults.
• Women whose partners are alcoholic.
• Women with binge/purge eating disorders (bulimia).
• Women who are depressed.
• Young women who are single or co-habitating.
• Middle aged women in transition (divorce, retirement, children leaving home).
• Older women with grief and loss issues.

How Alcohol Works on Your Body

• Alcohol depresses the brain and slows down the nervous system.
  
  
• Alcohol enters the blood stream from the stomach so its toxic effects can be seen everywhere in the body.
  
  
• The rate at which alcohol gets into your system depends on:
  • How much you drink.
  • How fast you drink it.
  • The concentration of the alcohol.
  • Whether or not you have food in your stomach.
  • Gender
    
    
• Some drugs, such as valium or sleeping pills, increase alcohol effects.
  
  
• Women break down alcohol less efficiently than men do. Problems like liver damage occur more quickly and with less alcohol than with men.
  
  
• Women reach higher blood alcohol concentrations than men who drink the same amount because women have less body water.

Medical Problems Women Develop from Drinking

• High blood pressure-that can increase risk of heart attack and stroke.
• Enlarged or floppy heart.
• Hormone imbalance.
• Breast cancer.
• Stomach ulcers and intestinal bleeding.
• Liver disease such as hepatitis, cirrhosis, pancreatitis.
• Malnutrition.
• Overweight.
• Bone loss.

How much drinking is safe?

• No more than 1 drink per day for daily drinkers (U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services).
• No more than 2 drinks per day for occasional drinkers.
• One drink means 12 oz. beer, 5 oz. wine, or 1.5 oz. hard liquor.

By Sally Ragsdale, MSN

University of Washington Medical Center
Patient Education
Women's Health Care Center-Roosevelt