Women are now drinking alcohol just as much as men—with even more detrimental health effects

During his last weeks in power in January, former general surgeon Dr. Vivek Murthy called for alcohol alert labels to highlight his cancer connection. While the majority of Americans do not largely know that alcohol consumption increases their risk of cancer, 45% agree that having more than two drinks per day is unhealthy, according to a Gallup investigation.

Although alcohol is a Cancerigen group 1which means that it is known to cause cancer in humans and World Health Organization declaring That no level of alcohol consumption is sure, alcohol consumption continues to increase. Excessive alcohol consumption has increased in the elderly and alcohol -related hospital visits to middle -aged women increased last year.

Historically, men have consumed more alcohol than women, according to the World Health Organization. Now, the Yale program on gender differences in alcohol disorder The reports that women have caught up with men, drinking and engaging in harmful consumption of alcohol at the same rate. In 2024, the centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that between 2016 and 2021, alcohol -related death rates increased by 35% in women and 27% in men. Studies also show that alcohol consumption emergencies 70% pink In women against 58% in men from 2006 to 2014, while alcohol -related hospitalizations have increased Almost 70% in women Against 43% among men, from 2000 to 2015.

The Yale programThe exploration of neurological engines of alcohol consumption behavior and alcohol consumption disorder in women has found that this increase in consumption and alcohol abuse in women is accompanied by greater health effects observed unless drinks than men. Studies have shown that women who drink are at risk of disproportionately higher than men brain damage,, cognitive disorder,, Cardiovascular problems,, Damage caused by the liverand aggravated immune function. Alcohol also increases the risk of hormonal imbalances for women and menstrual irregularityas well as several cancers, especially breast cancer.

Why do women drink more?

There could be multiple factors influencing why women drink more: one of them being changes in social standards, according to Sherry McKeeProfessor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine and director of the Yale program.

“Women now earn more, delay marriage and delay childbirth,” said McKee in the Yale School of Medicine (YSM) Writing on the program. “We think it could create more time and space to drink.”

Changes in the way alcohol is marketed is another factor that researchers are considering. “We have seen that marketing towards mothers has standardized the” culture of mother of wine “,” said Kelly Cosgrove, Professor of psychiatry, neuroscience, and radiology and biomedical imaging in YSM.

It has also become more and more clear that the Covid-19 pandemic led women's consumption habits. A 2020 study revealed that the number of women of women declared a high consumption of alcohol – four or more glasses in a few hours – jumped by 41%.

“It had to do with the time that people were at home and the stress they were under”, ” Marina Picciotto, Psychiatry professor in YSM, said.

Why alcohol strikes women stronger

This comes back to physiology: women metabolize alcohol differently from men. Indeed, they generally have a lower percentage of water in the body and more adipose tissue than men, which results in less liquid to dilute alcohol – resulting in a higher blood alcohol level (tank). In addition, the main enzyme involved in alcohol metabolism can be up to 40% less active in women, reports Yale.

This means that if a woman and a man of the same age and the same weight drink the same quantity at the same rate, the woman will always have a larger baccalaureate.

The dangers of alcohol consumption for women

Yale reports that alcohol -related deaths are increasing more quickly in women – with less alcohol necessary to get there. A 2023 Study have found that men need to drink at least 3.2 glasses per day as being an increased risk of premature death, but women only have to consume 1.8 for their risk of jumping.

“Even two glasses per day do not put a woman at a considerably increased risk,” said McKee.

If he is known that alcohol can exacerbate mental health struggles, drink more of the mental health of women to more, in particular given the reasons why women turn to alcohol. The engines of alcohol consumption differ between men and women, Research showsMen drinking more often to feel positive emotions and socialization, while women often have a drink to manage their stress.

Women are also less likely to get help than men for alcohol consumption disorder, according to Yale, for several reasons. Although social stigma prevents women from looking for treatment, Yale researchers point out that gender -related differences in alcohol consumption are not often taken into account in research, diagnosis and treatment.

A review in Borders in psychiatry have found that women represent only 13% of participants in the research on weaning alcohol, while the drug trials for the treatment of alcohol consumption disorders often have mainly concentrated on men. Only 1% of participants in the study for Disulfiram of drugs, one of the three drugs approved by the FDA for alcohol abuse, were women, while another drug approved by the FDA, the Naltrexone, is more likely to have side effects in women such as nausea and sleep disorders, which makes them less likely to continue treatment ( Differences in men and women for the third medication approved by the FDA, Acampros).

Thanks to the Yale program, researchers hope to create alcohol treatments that are better welcomed to women and their unique responses to alcohol consumption.

“We are just at the beginning to really understand what the brain and the body differ between men and women who drink,” said Picciotto.

“We really have to focus on a personalized medicine perspective, especially with regard to dependence and alcohol,” added McKee.

If you or a loved one need support for alcohol consumption, the national institute on alcohol abuse and alcoholism provides Alcohol treatment browser To find a nearby treatment. The Yale program on sexual differences in alcohol disorders also registers For medication trials.

To find out more about alcohol:

• 6 ways that your brain and your body benefit when you stop drinking alcohol
• Alcohol consumption and drugs linked to more than 3 million annual deaths worldwide
• Visits to the hospital powered by alcohol stand in middle -aged women, Study says: “We just don't know what causes this”
• The truth about alcohol and your brain: scientists put a number over the years, high consumption removes your life

This story was initially presented on Fortune.com