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Binge Drinking in Females

17 July 2009 One Comment

Really bad it seems!

In the May 2nd 2009 edition of the Good Weekend Magazine there was an article about the hazards of excessive drinking. It was specifically looking at women, but it discussed the topic in general as well, and I was so surprised by some of the stats that I thought I should share them:

“The lifetime relative risk of death (that’s right, DEATH!) from an alcohol related disease MORE THAN TRIPLES when consumption goes from 2 to 3 standard drinks a day”.

“At 10 standard drinks a day, women have almost a 1 in 10 chance of dying of an alcohol related disease, 25 TIMES the risk of those having 2 standard drinks. For men, it is 12 times the risk at 10 compared to 2”.

“Adding drinking to smoking doesn’t just add to risk, it multiplies it significantly”.

“Women’s livers are more susceptible, over a shorter period of time and with less alcohol, to damage and disease like cirrhosis”.

“3 or 4 drinks or more a day can elevate blood pressure and the risk of hemorrhagic stroke”.

“Women who drink up to 2 standard drinks a day have a 9% increased risk of breast cancer compared to women who don’t drink. At 2-4 drinks the risk is 31% greater, and 68% greater for 5 or more drinks a day”.

There is quite a bit of evidence on the benefits of moderate drinking – 1 or 2 a day. Check out my twitter updates for more on that. What we’re talking about here is when you start to go beyond that. Seems like you only have to go a little further to make a big difference.

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