Women are about to overtake men of alcohol, what happens?

The number of women using alcohol is on the rise, but studies warn it is just the tip of the sink.

Men who drink more alcohol than women are normal in Western and Vietnamese society in particular, but epidemiologists have just said that the balance is moving towards women.

Reason? Alcohol marketing campaigns for women appear more and more, and the role of modern women is gradually changing.

A previous study found that the proportion of men who were drunk was twice as high as women. However, that is difficult for young people now.

Picture 1 of Women are about to overtake men of alcohol, what happens?
More and more women drink alcohol - (Photo: BabyCenter).

"Overcoming" gentlemen

In fact, a health report published on the BBC, surveyed from millions of people around the world, points out that sisters born between 1991 and 2000 consumed an almost equal amount of alcohol - even The rate of drinking is even higher than that of men.

Since then, the diseases caused by alcohol have increased rapidly in women. US national data shows that the death rate from cirrhosis in women aged 45-64 in 2000-2015 is 57%, in men only 21%. This rate has increased to 18% in women aged 25-44, while it has decreased by 10% in men.

The number of cases of adult women "visiting" the hospital because of the overdose of alcohol is on the rise. And the dangers from this problem also escalate in proportion. The fact that ladies start drinking more than gentlemen is not the most important issue to note.

Picture 2 of Women are about to overtake men of alcohol, what happens?
The concentration of fat, ADH and water makes women respond to completely different alcoholic substances - (Photo: Getty Images).

Scientists have found a difference when the female body responds to alcohol compared to men. It is due to an enzyme in the stomach named: alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) , with the effect of breaking the alcohol bond.

This enzyme is not produced much in the female body. Next, the fat has a mechanism to retain alcohol, and the amount of water inside it helps to move.

Do you know that the natural fat rate of women is higher than that of men? Therefore, we often see the reaction of women after drinking alcohol is shown faster and more clearly.

Women who drink too much tend to be addicted to alcohol and suffer from health problems faster than the opposite sex. Women who are addicted to alcohol often start drinking alcohol at a later age than men, but the time for them to start addicted will be less. Women are also more prone to liver disease and suffer from heart and nervous system damage.

The scientific world is unexpected

Unexpectedly, the above gender differences in alcoholism have not been discovered until recent decades. Research on ADH enzyme was only published in 1990.

Most research around alcohol is only done on men, until the 1990s. To explain, scientists are encouraged to eliminate many factors that are likely to affect results - one of them is sex.

Picture 3 of Women are about to overtake men of alcohol, what happens?
When using excessive alcohol, fast women have more liver disease, heart disease and neurological disease than men - (Photo: Getty Images).

That changed when government agencies such as the US National Institutes of Health demanded that women and ethnic minority people be included as subjects of clinical research, from which gender barriers novelty is broken.

In addition, research conducted by Sharon Wilsnack, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at the University of North Dakota, found that women who abuse alcohol are almost sexually harassed as children. This contributes greatly to their support and treatment.

In the early 2000s, a study used brainwave scanning in alcoholics and suggested that female brains respond more sensitively to alcohol than men. But then, Marlene Oscar-Berman, professor of anatomy and neurology at Boston Medical University, found another surprise.

When her team observed the brains of "alcohol worms" , they discovered a part of the brain in men who were less alcoholic than men who were not addicted. That part of the brain is called the " rewarding mechanism" , associated with creating motivation; The key to making decisions and even affecting basic survival needs.

However, in women who are addicted to alcohol, the "reward mechanism" brain is larger for women who are not addicted - implying that their brains are less affected by alcohol than men.

Oscar-Berman exclaims: "It surprised us very much. It countered the idea that women 's brains are more vulnerable to drinking alcohol than men." Currently, scientists still do not understand what makes this difference.

Some other studies also show the following two important information: women who are addicted to alcohol will recover better if they are treated in a group of all female members, helping them learn more about gender differences in alcohol addiction problems, recognize the reason behind it; and that women drink alcohol to eliminate emotional pain, while men's drinking is more related to social pressure.

After all, the time has come for society and the scientific community to have a fairer view of men and women in alcohol use; And we need to realize that the health situation is seriously affected, because alcohol is increasing in women.