CDC Marks April as Alcohol Awareness Month

It is known that alcohol consumption is more common among Americans. Alcohol usage causes major health issues in both males as well as female. However, women are more prone to the harmful effects of alcohol. In order to create awareness of the dreadful effects of alcohol usage on women, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) marked April as the Alcohol awareness month. It was intended to raise awareness of the health and social problems associated with alcohol usage by women.

It was created to make people aware of the risks of binge drinking to women's health. Consuming four or more drinks for women and five or more drinks for men is considered as binge drinking. Binge drinking was found to be responsible for more than 11,500 deaths among women in the United States each year. Approximately 32 deaths per day were found to be associated with binge drinking.

It was found that, in 2009, more than 1 out of every 10 women reported binge drinking during the past 30 days. On an average, most of the women binge drinkers consume about six drinks per occasion which is much more than the threshold for binge drinking.

Alcohol consumption is associated with gender differences. Though equal amounts of alcohol is taken, more alcohol is tend to be absorbed by women. When compared to males, much more time is taken by women to break it down and remove it from the bodies. This is because of the differences in the body composition and the chemistry between men and women. So, the effects of impairment are seen for a longer time in women when compared to men.

Taking alcohol during pregnancy increases the risk of having a baby with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs). They include physical and intellectual problems. It was known from the national surveys that out of 10 women of child-bearing age (18-44 years), 6 women take alcohol. About one-third of the alcohol consuming women who belong to this group were found to binge alcohol. Alcohol usage among women makes them more vulnerable to long-term effects like cancer, liver diseases and heart problems. There are more chances of occurrence of these effects in women when compared to men. It is, therefore, necessary to educate people of the problems associated with women alcohol consumption.