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Review
. 2013;35(2):219-28.
doi: 10.35946/arcr.v35.2.12.

Focus on: women and the costs of alcohol use

Free PMC article
Review

Focus on: women and the costs of alcohol use

Sharon C Wilsnack et al. Alcohol Res. 2013.
Free PMC article

Abstract

Although light-to-moderate drinking among women is associated with reduced risks of some cardiovascular problems, strokes, and weakening of bones, such levels of drinking also are associated with increased risks of breast cancer and liver problems, and heavy drinking increases risks of hypertension and bone fractures and injuries. Women's heavy-drinking patterns and alcohol use disorders are associated with increased likelihood of many psychiatric problems, including depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, and suicidality, as well as increased risks of intimate partner violence and sexual assault, although causality in the associations of drinking with psychiatric disorders and with violence remains unclear. It is important for women to be aware of the risks associated with alcohol use, especially because gaps between U.S. men's and women's drinking may have narrowed. However, analyses of health risks and benefits need mprovement to avoid giving women oversimplified advice about drinking.

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Figures

Figure
Figure
Female intimate-partner violence victimization by women’s past-12-month heavy episodic drinking (HED) (10 countries of the Americas). NOTE: * p < .05 for logistic regression, controlling for age. SOURCE: Graham, K.; Bernards, S.; Munné, M.; and Wilsnack, S.C.; Eds. Unhappy Hours: Alcohol and Partner Aggression in the Americas. Washington, DC: Pan American Health Organization, 2008.

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