More and more women are alcohol dependent

Drug commissioner: More and more women are affected by alcohol addiction. The development is viewed with great concern by the Federal Government.

Around 1.3 million people are alcohol dependent in Germany, of which an estimated 370,000 are women. In addition, children and young people increasingly resort to alcoholic stimulants. A development that is not only viewed with concern by the Drug Commissioner of the Federal Government.

Women increasingly affected by alcohol addiction
While predominantly men have been affected by alcohol addiction, the proportion of alcohol-dependent women has risen massively in recent years. Thus, the Federal Government Drug Commissioner, Mechthild Dyckmans (FDP), currently warns women and young people, especially women, of the negative consequences and the addictive potential of alcohol consumption. Since the organs in children and adolescents are not yet fully mature and the alcohol can have particularly serious health consequences for them, the Drug Commissioner regularly addresses them with admonishing words. However, an explicit warning to the women is unusual and shows how urgently in the opinion of Mechthild Dyckmans must be acted. For example, this year's annual meeting of drug commissioners focused on the issue of female alcohol dependence.

Up to 20 percent of women drink too much alcohol
A study carried out on their behalf has shown that in certain strata of the population and age groups already twenty percent of women consume too much alcohol and a dangerous trend can be observed even among young girls, said the Federal Drug Commissioner, Mechthild Dyckmans. According to them, around one in five women between the ages of 45 and 54 years is over-drinking, so this age group is considered a special risk group.

More than 12 grams of pure alcohol a day are hazardous to health
Although the Federal Government Drugs Commissioner can not base her arguments on previous years' comparisons, she nevertheless sees a worrying increase in female alcohol consumption. In particular, the fact that the female metabolism is more sensitive to alcohol is, in the opinion of Mechthild Dyckmans, far too little attention. Based on various scientific calculations Dyckmans assumes that from a consumption of about twelve grams of pure alcohol per day (about 0.3 liters of beer) there is a significant health risk. Due to the particular sensitivity of their metabolism to alcohol, the risk of liver cirrhosis or breast cancer is much higher for women when consuming alcohol.

Many women do not abstain from alcohol during pregnancy
According to Dyckmans, the relatively widespread use of alcohol is especially critical during pregnancy. According to the Federal Center for Health Education (BzgA), only two out of ten women are able to drink alcohol at all during pregnancy. "That's why in Germany too many children are born with the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome," explains Dyckmans, which can manifest itself in mental disabilities, but also attention and behavioral disorders and the children draws a lifetime. Recent studies have shown that even the consumption of very small amounts of alcohol can have fatal health consequences for the unborn child.

Girl especially at risk
The young psychologist Michael Klein from the Catholic University of Applied Sciences North Rhine-Westphalia in Cologne also attributes the fact that the girls are often drunk without restraint among the adolescents to the addictive dangers for daughters of alcohol-dependent mothers. Thus, about 1.3 million girls are affected by the parent's alcohol dependency, whereby a mother's alcohol addiction (on the basis of her role model) increases the risk of addiction for affected daughters 16-fold, whereas the risk only triples for boys. In 2008, about 2,400 girls between the ages of 10 and 15 had to be treated with alcohol poisoning in hospital, compared with around 2,100 boys of the same age. Against the background of these relatively high numbers of alcohol intoxications among young people as a whole, the Drug Commissioner of the Federal Government also criticized that the controls of the Youth Protection Act „obviously do not grab“.

Preventive measures must be targeted to women
In addition to the already sent new commercials warning against the negative consequences of alcohol use, Mechthild Dyckmans announced various other measures, which should include not only better offers in alcohol prevention and therapy but also a targeted focus of prevention measures on women. "We have to take into account the special needs of women," said the Federal Government Drugs Commissioner.

According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the alcohol addiction in men and women causes about 24.4 billion euros in costs per year. The RKI compiles all costs that are directly related to alcohol addiction. Thus, early retirement, treatment costs and work incapacities are included. (Fp)

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Addiction: More and more women are being treated

Picture credits: Paul-Georg Meister