We all make the joke that ‘alcohol will get us through’ certain situations like a busy party, first date, or even the pandemic. Alcohol dependancy, however, is no joke. Sadly, many middle-aged and middle-income women are reliant on alcohol – a glass of wine to relax can quickly turn into a few glasses each night.
Women in the UK are up there with the biggest drinkers across the globe. They rank at the eighth-worst demographic for their alcohol consumption. Due to this, there is an increasing number of women here developing liver disease and other health issues.
Figures also show an alarming number of professional women who drink heavily. This could be showing the ‘dark side of equality’. Are women working harder to get the same level jobs men are getting? Is this meaning that they are turning to alcohol more often due to stress?
If you feel like you are drinking too much and it is getting beyond your control, you should consider rehab treatment. There should never be shame in asking for help.
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How Does Alcohol Affect Women Differently?
In most cases, the blood alcohol level will be higher in a female if she drinks the same amount as a male. This could be due to how women are often smaller than men – so the same amount of alcohol is going into a smaller person.
The same results are still found even when a woman is the same weight and height as a man, but why? This is down to body fat and water.
When alcohol enters your body, it is held within your body water. Proportionally, women will have more body fat than men, and will therefore have less body water too. This means that when women consume alcohol, it will be less concentrated in their lower amount of body water.
What is the Link Between Cancer, Women and Alcohol?
It has been proven that there is a connection between cancer, alcohol addiction and women. In 2014, the World Health Organisation released a report stating that 21.6% or 1 in 5 of all deaths linked to alcohol are caused by cancer.
The most common cancer women develop is breast cancer, and abusing alcohol will increase the risk of this further. It can also raise the risk of liver cancer, mouth cancer, oesophagus, and larynx cancer.
How Does Alcohol Impact a Woman’s Fertility?
It is recommended that when you are trying to conceive or are pregnant, you avoid alcohol entirely. This is because it will greatly lower any health risks passed to the child.
What a lot of people don’t know is, alcohol can cause havoc with a woman’s menstrual cycle too, even if it is a few glasses of wine. This will have a knock-on effect when trying to conceive.
Will Drinking Alcohol Affect my Appearance?
We all want to get our beauty sleep, but that won’t happen after a night on the booze! There is no doubt about it, alcohol impacts the way we look. Over both a short and long period of consuming alcohol, we gradually get more tired looking as our skin becomes deprived of hydration and nutrients.
