London, With the same weight, women get drunk faster than men when drinking alcohol in the same dose. Not only that, women are also more prone to liver damage if too often drinking alcohol. Why is that?
Liver is an important organ involved in the metabolism of alcohol, before being discharged from the body through urine. More and more alcohol is metabolized, the more severe the liver so that more and more vulnerable to various problems or damage.
Compared to men, women more prone to liver damage when both drinking too much.Similarly, the effect is, alcohol is more intoxicating for women than for men when compared to the same weight conditions.
Dr Marsha Morgan of University College London said the differences alcohol effects on men and women are influenced by the composition of body fluids. The average male body consists of 65 percent water, while water composition in women is only about 55 percent.
"Alcohol is absorbed into the blood, then distributed into the liquid cell. More and more water contained in the body's cells, the less the concentration of alcohol in the cell," he said as quoted from Dailymail, Tuesday (12/04/2011).
Basically there is no difference in sensitivity of the liver in men and women. Just because the composition of the water more, then working in the male liver to metabolize alcohol is lighter than in women so that more able to tolerate damage.
For comparison, Dr Morgan said the man with 65 kg weight can drink 3 times more than women with the same weight to produce an equivalent effect. This means that women get drunk faster than men.
For that reason, the British government to distinguish a safe dose of alcohol between men and women. Men are still safe to consume 21 units of alcohol (210 ml) every week, while women are advised not to exceed 14 units (140 ml) in a week.