More women in the U S. are drinking themselves to death, research finds

April 21, 2025

In fact, about half of all cases of alcoholism in women begin after age 59. The time from when women take their first drink to the time they develop medical complications is shorter than it is for men, Martin said. For a variety of reasons, women can’t metabolize alcohol as fast as men, meaning they have more of the toxic substance in their systems for longer. In an analysis of two decades of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Karaye and his colleagues found that women’s alcohol-related mortality rate rose by 14.7%, as compared to 12.5% in men. “The gender gap is narrowing,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Ibraheem Karaye, a professor of population health and director of the health science program at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. In a world where pretty heavy (and frequent) drinking occasions are normalized, it can be pretty easy to overdo it on alcohol—especially since moderate drinking for women is considered to be one drink per day.

Drinking in Dangerous Situations

Long-term alcohol abuse is harder on https://ecosoberhouse.com/ a woman’s body than it is on a man’s body. Even if a woman drinks less than a man and for a shorter period of time, the adverse effects of drinking will hit her earlier than they will affect a man. When a woman continues to drink despite experiencing medical or mental health issues like a co-occurring disorder, she likely struggles with an addiction to alcohol. This is especially true if drinking is the root cause of health problems. We did not conduct a quality assessment of the included studies as the main focus of our review was to build upon the emerging evidence on how alcohol affects women’s health in order to address sex- and gender-related factors in low-risk drinking guidelines. The studies synthesized in this review were conducted in high-income countries, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and some countries from the European Union.

Women and Alcohol: Risks, Benefits and Why We’re Different

Research has not revealed any sex differences related to acamprosate, the third FDA-approved medication. While alcohol misuse by anyone presents serious public health concerns, women who drink have a higher risk of certain alcohol-related problems compared to men. To make informed decisions about alcohol use, it is important that women be aware of these health risks and of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020–2025 for adult women of legal drinking age—they can choose not to drink or to limit intake to 1 drink or less in a day, when alcohol is consumed. Some individuals should avoid alcohol completely, such as women who are pregnant or might be pregnant. According to the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, mounting evidence suggests that women are at higher risk for some of alcohol’s negative effects, such as liver disease, cardiovascular disease and neurotoxicity.

Women and men are equally capable of recovery

In the fetus’s developing digestive system, alcohol breaks down much more slowly than it does in an adult body, meaning that the fetus’s blood alcohol level can remain high for longer periods. Testing telehealth platforms for individual and group AUD treatments may help reduce barriers to use among women. Likewise, testing ancillary smartphone applications that link women to in vivo coping skills training and social network support could enhance outcomes of existing in-person programs or serve as stand-alone aids for women who face insurmountable treatment entry barriers. Taken together, the papers included in this virtual issue on women and alcohol highlight important new knowledge on sex differences in patterns of alcohol use, consequences of alcohol misuse, and approaches to identification and treatment. They highlight the critical importance of the NIH mandate to include women in research and, more importantly, to enroll sufficient women to permit adequately powered analyses of sex differences and similarities.

Mechanisms such as drug clearance are linked to sex-related factors in the expression of metabolic enzymes 18,19 and renal clearance of drugs is decreased in females because of a lower glomerular filtration rate compared to males 20. Women are more vulnerable than men to alcohol’s effects, even after drinking smaller amounts. Heavy drinking can lead to increased risk of health problems such as liver disease, brain damage, and breast cancer.

• Anyone who has struggled to overcome alcohol dependence or an alcohol abuse problem knows how difficult aprocess recovery can be.
• You will see that we stand out from the other providers in the industry.
• Finally, alcohol may have sex-differential impacts on impairment, measured both subjectively and objectively.
• In the USA in 2015 and 2020, sex-specific advice was released, recommending that women drink one drink or less per day and no more than three in one sitting; less than the two drinks and five drinks suggested for men 9,10.

And A.C.B.; data curation, N.P., women and alcoholism A.C.B. and L.G.; writing—original draft preparation, L.G., N.P. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. We acknowledge Chad Dubeau and the CCSA for providing research librarian services to support parts of this work.

Our focus on individualized alcohol treatment helps make Casa Palmera a valuable, rare and life changing experience. Alcoholism has devastating effects on a person’s health and personal life, no matter what sex they are. Studies show, however, that the risk factors that lead to alcoholism and the consequences of alcohol abuse differ among men and women. It’s also important to educate yourself on addiction and how it affects women differently than men.

Another large national survey called NESARC showed that in 2013, 9% of women engaged in high-risk drinking over the past year (Grant et al., 2017). In addition, the 2016 SAMHSA survey reported that only 4% of women age 12 and older engaged in heavy drinking. These results are much lower than those found in the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation survey. However, the National Health Interview survey (from the CDC) found that 33% of Caucasian women ages binge drink (Keating, 2016). Notably, most women who completed the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation survey were of this race and age range. Regardless of whether heavy drinkers are over-represented in the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation survey respondents, it marijuana addiction is clear that an alarming number of women engage in heavy drinking, which carries significant health and safety risks.