Deaths associated with excessive alcohol consumption are rising among women in the United States, new research shows.
The study published in JAMA Network on July 28 found that although males historically were nearly three times more likely to die from alcohol-related conditions than females, recent trends suggest women are starting to catch up.
The study analyzed data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more than 600,000 alcohol-related deaths between 1999 and 2020.
Alcohol related-deaths include alcohol poisoning, alcoholic liver disease, alcoholic cardiomyopathy, acute intoxication, and mental and behavioral disorders linked to alcohol consumption, among other causes.
Between 2018 and 2020, the researchers found that women’s mortality rate increased by 14.7 percent, while the mortality rate among men increased by 12.5 percent.
From 2012 to 2020, the mortality rate among women 65 and older increased by 6.7 percent per year, compared to 5.2 percent among men in the same age range.
The study found women’s mortality rate increased by 1 percent annually from 1999 to 2007. It climbed to 4.3 percent annually from 2007 to 2018, and surged even more in recent years.
The study did not address why alcohol-related deaths in women are rising, but the researchers pointed to the changing patterns of alcohol consumption among women.
“Women are now drinking alcohol at higher amounts and frequencies than in the past, likely due to the normalization of alcohol use for female individuals in society,” according to the study.
Women are also more susceptible to the effects of alcohol, according to the researchers. For example, women’s bodies have lower amounts of the enzyme needed to break down alcohol as well as lower water content, which means they don’t metabolize alcohol as quickly as men. This can lead to prolonged exposure and greater organ damage over time.
Women often don’t realize “they don’t need to drink as much as men to develop liver disease,” Dr. Lisa Ganjhu, an associate professor in the division of gastroenterology and liver disease at NYU Langone Health, told NBC News.
“I’ve had to talk to a fair number of women about their alcohol use,” she added. “I had one patient who developed pancreatitis from drinking ask me when she could start drinking again. She said it wasn’t acceptable to not drink with clients. It’s mind-boggling.”
Researchers say the motivation for drinking could play an important role in understanding the rise in alcohol-related conditions and deaths.
Coping with stress is one of the main motivations for alcohol misuse among men and women, according to the researchers.
“There’s an interaction with mental health that has been more exposed during the pandemic,” George F. Koob, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, told CNN last year. “Women are twice as likely as men to experience anxiety and depression, and the stresses of the pandemic likely hit hard.”
Cancer Risk
In 2021, research published in Cancer Epidemiology concluded that alcohol consumption accounts for a “considerable proportion” of cancer incidence and mortality across the United States. “Implementing state-level policies and cancer control efforts to reduce alcohol consumption could reduce this cancer burden,” the study authors wrote.
According to the World Cancer Research Fund International, a nonprofit dedicated to cancer prevention research, consuming alcohol, in general, increases the risk of certain types of cancer, such as mouth, pharynx, and larynx cancers; esophageal cancer (squamous cell carcinoma); breast cancer.
More specifically, consuming two or more alcoholic drinks a day—30 grams or more—is linked to an increased risk of colorectal cancer, while three or more drinks daily—45 grams or more—raises the risk of stomach and liver cancers.
George Citroner contributed to this report.