Gender and Alcoholism
Alcoholism is faced by both men and women, and does not discriminate between age, marital status or age. However, gender has been found to be an important factor influencing alcoholism vulnerability and treatment. There are both biological and physiological factors including hormones that show that gender differences occur in alcoholism.
In developed countries, the World Health Organization has estimated, 1 in 5 men and 1 in 12 women develop alcohol dependence during their lives. This gender difference is found to be the case all over the world and is one of only a few key gender differences in social behavior.
There are many reasons for this difference in alcoholism between men and women. Women metabolize alcohol in a different way than men — leading them to feel the effects of alcohol earlier and to a greater extent than men. Thus, women feel the bad effects of alcohol sooner and more intense and suffer the negative behavioral and high risk factors to a greater extent.
Also, women who drink alcohol expose themselves more health risks for themselves. Alcohol has been linked to an increased risk of cancers, including breast cancer and research has shown that women are more susceptible to organ damage due to alcoholism while drinking less and over a shorter period of time than men. Do to these factors, women are also at risk of chronic diseases, neurological problems, cardiovascular issues, psychological problems and social issues that are related to alcoholism.
On the other hand, men are twice as likely to suffer from alcoholism to suffer from alcoholism as women. Men drink more quantities and more often than women do and in turn, suffer from the long-term health implications. These diseases can include: brain and/or liver disease, cognitive problems, and depression. Excessive alcohol consumption is also found to be a factor in sexual dysfunction in men.
Although the causes and effects of alcoholism are different according to gender, the underlying result is the same: alcoholism is harmful no matter if you are male or female.