Women Who Drink Could Be At Higher Risk For Liver Disease Than Men
LatestAlright everyone, say it with me, because it’s time to play my favorite game here at Jezebel: “A study has found!” Today, a new study says women are more vulnerable to certain effects of alcohol than men, because their bodies tend to be smaller and they have less water in them.
Dr. Howard Monsour, chief of hepatology at Houston Methodist Hospital, said women who have a genetic predisposition to liver disease should consume alcohol only in moderation, or lay off that shit altogether:
About 20 to 30 per cent of the population has a genetic disposition to cirrhosis of the liver and Monsour said it is important for people to know if they have a family history of cirrhosis before making the decisions to drink large amounts of alcohol.
Oh great, even deadly diseases that want to slowly and painfully kill you are freaking sexist now. When are we going to finally get a break; geez. “When women drink the same amount less is dispersed and the concentration is higher. They also have a lower activity of a metabolising enzyme in the stomach called alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH),” said Dr. Monsour.
ADH helps convert alcohol to acetaldehyde, which eventually is metabolized to carbon dioxide and water. This causes a larger amount of the alcohol to reach the blood and eventually in susceptible persons can lead to cirrhosis of the liver, a disease that normally has no visible signs until liver damage is too extensive.
And don’t think you can try any of that LOL I SWITCHED FROM VODKA TO BEER SO I SHOULD BE FINE NOW stuff, either. Dr. Monsour said it’s amount of the alcohol content people need to pay attention to, not what kind of alcohol they are drinking. Talk about a buzzkill.
I sure wish science would just make up its mind about alcohol once and for all. Oh sigh.
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