Why women are more prone to serious complications from drinking alcohol

为什么在喝酒后女性比男性更容易感到不舒服


While it’s no surprise that heavy drinking comes with health consequences, women in particular are more prone to serious complications from alcohol — including an increased risk of alcohol-related death, according to a new study.

我们都知道在过度饮酒后，我们的健康会受到影响。根据一项新研究得出的结论：女性尤其更容易在喝酒后感到不舒服，甚至在严重的情况下会导致死亡。

The study, published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, looked at the death certificates of Americans 16 and older from 1999 to 2017. The researchers found that not only were there nearly 1 million alcohol-related deaths in that time period, but that the number of alcohol-related deaths per year of people 16 and older doubled (from 35,914 to 72,558 deaths per year).

这份研究被发表在《酒精中毒的临床与实验研究》这本杂志上。研究是通过查阅从1999年到2017年的美国16岁以上的人的死亡证明书来进行的。研究人员不仅发现在这段历史时期中因为喝酒而死亡的人的人数达到了将近100万，而且发现每年由于喝酒而死亡的16岁以上的人的人数到最后翻了一倍。（从1999年的35914人到2017年的72558人。）

Women in particular are being affected: The researchers found that the largest annual increase of alcohol-related deaths occurred among non-Hispanic white women.

女性尤其容易受到酒精的影响：研究人员发现那些每年人数增长的饮酒致死的人当中，母语非西班牙语的白人女性占了大部分。

That’s even more alarming considering the number of women who are drinking alcohol and abusing alcohol is on the rise, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).
“Historically, the most protective factor for women was that it was less normative for women to drink a lot,” Keith Humphreys, PhD, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences studying alcohol consumption at Stanford University and who was not involved in the study, tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “That was changed largely by alcohol companies. Enormous amounts of women were targeted in advertising and it worked — and now women drink much more and now they’re dying much more.”

“在历史上，女性由于其身体自身的自我保护机制使得其比较不胜酒量。”凯什.哈姆弗雷斯博士是斯坦福大学的一名研究饮酒问题的精神病学和行为科学教授，他没有参与这项研究，他接受雅虎的采访时说：“饮酒带来的问题由于酒业公司的发展而变得日益严重。许多女性在看酒广告的时候被成功洗脑了。现在的女性当中喝酒的人数比从前更多了，因为饮酒而去世的女性的人数也变得比从前更多。”

The health consequences of drinking

喝酒对健康的影响
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Even though men are not only more likely to drink alcohol but also more of it, alcohol hits women harder. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that “gender differences in body structure and chemistry cause women to absorb more alcohol, and take longer to break it down and remove [metabolize] it from their bodies,” adding, “These differences also make it more likely that drinking will cause long-term health problems in women than men.”

尽管男性不仅更喜欢喝酒并且会喝更多的酒，但是酒精对女性的健康造成的影响比对男性的造成的影响更大。疾病预防控制中心表示：“在人体结构上的性别差异以及男女体内化学物质的不同使得女性容易吸收更多的酒精，醉酒的时间会比男性长，将酒精排出体外所需的时间也比男性的长。这些差异也会让女性比男性更容易因为饮酒而患上长期存在的健康问题。”

Excessive alcohol use can lead to several health issues over time — and women are particularly affected. “The risk of cirrhosis and other alcohol-related liver diseases is higher for women than for men,” according to the CDC. Drinking too much alcohol can also affect the brain, causing shrinkage and memory loss. According to the CDC, “research suggests that women are more vulnerable than men to the brain damaging effects of excessive alcohol use, and the damage tends to appear with shorter periods of excessive drinking for women than for men.”

过度饮酒会导致各种健康问题，女性更容易因为酒精而导致健康状况受损。疾病预防控制中心表示：“女性因为饮酒而患上肝硬化以及其它因为饮酒而导致的肝病的风险比男性高。”过度饮酒还会损害人的大脑功能，引发脑萎缩和记忆力衰退。该中心还表示：“研究显示女性比男性更容易因为过度饮酒而损害自身的大脑功能。这些损害通常发生在短时期内过度饮酒的情况下，女性的大脑比男性的更容易在这种情况下受到损害。”

Heavy drinking also impacts heart health. The CDC states that studies show women who drink excessively have a higher risk of damaging the heart muscle than men, “even for women drinking at lower levels.”

酗酒也会对心脏的健康造成负面影响。疾病预防控制中心方面称：研究显示酗酒的女性的心脏肌肉比酗酒的男性的心脏肌肉更容易受到损害。就算女性喝得相对少一些，女性的心肌也比男性的要脆弱得多。

Why alcohol affects women more than men

为什么酒精对女性造成的影响比对男性造成的影响要更大呢？

Humphreys explains that, while the precise physiology is not well understood, one of the reasons why alcohol has a more profound effect on women is because, on average, they weigh less than men. According to the NIAAA: “Alcohol resides predominantly in body water, and pound for pound, women have less water in their bodies than men. This means that after a woman and a man of the same weight drink the same amount of alcohol, the woman’s blood alcohol concentration… will tend to be higher, putting her at greater risk for harm.”

哈姆弗雷斯解释说：现在还无法给出生理学上的准确解释，或许其中一个原因在于女性的体重比男性的轻。根据酗酒和酒中毒研究中心的说法，酒精主要被人体中所含的水分均等吸收，而女性身体的含水量比男性身体的含水量要少。这就意味着体重相同的一名女性和一名男性如果各自喝下等量的酒，女性血液中的酒精浓度通常会比男性血液中的酒精浓度要高，所以女性比男性更容易因为喝酒而身体健康受损。

But it’s not just about size. Research shows that women also have fewer alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) enzymes, which help the body metabolize alcohol.

但影响因素不仅仅只有男女身体结构的差异。研究显示女性身体中的醇脱氢酶比男性的要少。这种醇脱氢酶能够帮助人体代谢掉酒精。

The health consequences of drinking also develop more rapidly in women than in men. Humphreys says it’s called “telescoping” — “a term used to describe an accelerated progression from the initiation of substance use to the onset of dependence and first admission to treatment,” according to one study. “You’ll commonly see a woman who hasn’t been [drinking alcohol] as long as men and the physical punishment comes faster,” says Humphreys.

饮酒对健康造成的影响从影响产生的速度上看，女性健康受到的影响比男性健康受到的影响要来得更快一些。哈姆弗雷斯说：“这种现象叫做‘套叠效应’。这个术语是用来形容一个人从一开始服用某种物质到因为快速上瘾而开始依赖这种物质并首次入院接受治疗的现象。”

As Harvard University’s Celeste Robb-Nicholson, MD, puts it: “At every age, women are quicker to become alcohol-dependent and suffer the consequences.”

哈佛大学的医学博士塞莱斯特.罗伯尼科尔森说：“不管在哪个年龄段，女性会比男性更快对酒精上瘾，并且会比男性更快因为饮酒而出现健康问题。”

The U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans has recommendations aimed at reducing the risk of alcohol-related health issues, noting that if alcohol is consumed, it should be done in moderation: up to 1 drink per day for women and 2 drinks per day for men of legal drinking age.

美国政府的《美国人膳食指南》中提出了一些旨在减少因为饮酒而对健康造成危害的风险的建议，指南中说：“如果一个人要喝酒，他或她就应该适度饮酒。到了合法饮酒年龄的女性每天最多只能喝一杯酒，而到了合法饮酒年龄的男性每天最多只能喝两杯酒。”

“Next time you go to a bar or a liquor store, keep the risks of alcohol in mind,” noted the National Center for Health Research. “All women — regardless of size — need to remember that less alcohol could affect you more severely than it would a man.”

国家卫生研究中心指出：“下一次当你去一个酒吧或者一个酒类商店的时候，请你一定要记住饮酒的危害。所有的女性，不管你们的身材如何，你们需要记住的是：即便你们喝的酒比男性少，但饮酒对你们的身体造成的危害比对男性们的身体所造成的损害更严重。”