Alcohol Reminders

Posted: Dec. 1, 2004

Alcoholism is only one type of an alcohol problem. Alcohol abuse can be just as harmful. A person can abuse alcohol without actually being an alcoholic — that is, he or she may drink too much and too often but still not be dependent on alcohol. Some of the problems linked to alcohol abuse include not being able to meet work, school, or family responsibilities; drunk-driving arrests and car crashes; and drinking-related medical conditions.

Heavier drinking increases the chances for having an alcohol disorder. The chances are much higher for men who have more than four drinks a day and for women who have more than three drinks a day.

Under some circumstances, even social or moderate drinking is dangerous, for example, when driving, during pregnancy or when taking certain medications.

What counts as one drink?
Each of these drinks has about the same amount (about 1.2 tablespoons) of “pure” alcohol, or ethanol:

• 12 ounces of regular beer (5% alcohol)
• 5 ounces of table wine (12% alcohol)
• 1.5 ounces of hard liquor (40% alcohol)

It takes the adult body about two hours to break down a single drink.

Does alcohol affect older people differently?
Alcohol's effects do vary with age. Slower reaction times, problems with hearing and seeing, and a lower tolerance to alcohol's effects put older people at higher risk for falls, car crashes and other types of injuries that may result from drinking.

Older people also tend to take more medicines than younger people. Mixing alcohol with over-the-counter or prescription medications can be very dangerous, even fatal. More than 150 medications interact harmfully with alcohol.

In addition, alcohol can make many of the medical conditions common in older people, including high blood pressure and ulcers, more serious. Physical changes associated with aging can make older people feel "high" even after drinking only small amounts of alcohol. So even if there is no medical reason to avoid alcohol, older men and women should limit themselves to one drink per day.

Does alcohol affect women differently?
Yes, alcohol affects women differently than men. Women become more impaired than men do after drinking the same amount of alcohol, even when differences in body weight are taken into account.

This is because women's bodies have less water than men's bodies. Because alcohol mixes with the body’s water, a given amount of alcohol becomes more highly concentrated in a woman's body than in a man's. That is why the recommended drinking limit for women is lower than for men.

In addition, chronic alcohol abuse takes a heavier physical toll on women than on men. Alcohol dependence and related medical problems, such as brain, heart, and liver damage, progress more rapidly in women than in men.

Source: National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse

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