It is long been noted that the effects of alcohol on a person are divergent between the two sexes. This may form the basis of the historical differences in the social acceptability of alcohol consumption in regards to men and women. Science has shown that the effects of ethyl alcohol are greater on woman than the effects on men. The differences that exist are measurable in the absorption, distribution and metabolism of alcohol. These gender specific disparities have many implications when considering the effects of ethyl alcohol in regards to health and the development of alcoholism in woman. .
Alcohol, when ingested by both men and women, almost instantaneously begins the process of absorption and distribution. This absorption happens in the stomach, the small intestine and somewhat in the colon. It is in the stomach that we see one of the gender differences of alcohol. Unlike many other psychoactive substances, alcohol is partially absorbed through the lining of the stomach. However, while near 20% of alcohol is absorbed in the stomach of men; almost no absorption takes place at this same site in women. More so, woman process alcohol differently than their male counterparts does. If a man and a woman of equal body weight ingest the same amount of alcohol, the woman's blood alcohol concentration will be significantly higher. .
Because of these differences, the effects of alcohol are faster acting and occur more intensely in women. This fact may account for the short period many women drink before become chemically dependent upon alcohol. If alcohol use by a woman does become chronic, their death rate is 50% to 100% higher than rate of death in male alcoholics. This is do partly to the greater physical complications experienced by women.
