Women who consume higher quantity of alcohol like men, are prone to similar health related problems as men, a new study has found out
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Women who consume higher quantity of alcohol like men, are prone to similar health related problems as men, a new study has found out. The study shows that in recent times women are catching up with men in terms of their alcohol consumption and are being affected by diseases like hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, brain damage, depression, osteoporosis, high blood pressure, heart disease, just like men.
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In order to quantify this trend over time, researchers have pooled data from around 68 relevant international studies, all of which included explicit regional or national comparisons of both the genders’ drinking patterns across at least two time periods.
Researchers from the University of South Wales categorized the participants under the following categories: lifetime and/or current alcohol misuse or dependence; alcohol related problems; treatment for alcohol issues; and the time-frame of use and the development of related problems.
Researchers further made three broad categories of: any use, which included quantities and frequency; problematic use, which included binge/heavy drinking; and the prevalence of associated harms. The pooled in data showed that gap between men and women consistently narrowed across all three categories of any use, problematic use, and associated harms over time.
It is seen that men born between 1891 and 1910 were twice as likely as their female counterparts to consume alcohol. However, there came a change in the trend and it almost reached parity among those born between 1991 and 2000 (1.1), suggested the study published in the journal BMJ. The same patterns were evident for problematic use, where the gender gap fell from 3 to 1.2 times and for associated harms where the gender gap fell from 3.6 to 1.3 times.
After researchers took account of potential mathematical bias in their calculations, the gender gap fell by 3.2 per cent with each successive five year period of births, but it was steepest among those males and females born from 1966 onwards.
However, among the 42 studies that reported some evidence for sex convergence, most indicated that this was driven by greater use of alcohol among women, and 5 per cent of the sex ratios were less than 1. This suggests that women born after 1981 may actually be drinking more than their male counterparts, say the researchers.
This trend of alcohol consumption is highly evident amongst young adults, may be due to factors like increased socializing, partying and status quo. Also, women who indulge in binge drinking like men are prone to gynaecological disorders like premature menopause and breast cancer. Several biological factors like body fat, enzymes and hormones make women more vulnerable to the adverse effects of alcohol than men.
For both men and women, alcohol should be consumed in limited quantity to retain a longer and better life.
(With inpits from agencies)
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