Alcohol affects women differently than men and often has more serious consequences when abused.

College-age men and women drink about the same amount when research is adjusted for weight and gender differences, according to NIU researchers. A single alcoholic drink for a woman has the same impact of two for a man.

“We do know that women appear to be more vulnerable to some of the adverse consequences of alcohol use, including impaired function, alcohol-related organ damage and trauma,” said Mari Valle, an assistant professor in the School of Allied Health Professions. “Women can achieve higher concentrations of alcohol in the blood and become more functionally impaired than men after drinking similar amounts of alcohol.”

The clear majority of students drink moderately or below the legal driving limit when they party or socialize, said Michael Haines, director of NIU’s Social Science Research Institute. Haines’ research is focused around alcohol use on college campuses.

“Some studies show that women may metabolize alcohol differently than men,” Valle said. “Women typically have less body water than similar-weight men, so women achieve higher blood-alcohol concentrations after drinking equivalent amounts.”

Women also appear to eliminate alcohol from their blood faster than men, Valle said.

Valle said that people who don’t have problems with alcohol tend not to worry about how much alcohol they intake.

“If you think you may have a problem with drinking too much, you probably do,” Valle said.

Haines and some of his colleagues have submitted a research article to the Journal of American College Health describing students’ personal protective behaviors that correlate and predict lowered risk of alcohol-related harm, Haines said.

“About three quarters of all college drinkers use protective behaviors to maintain a safe drink level,” Haines said. “These protective behaviors work and they are commonly used by students nationwide.”

Haines said the study includes 28 colleges with over 28,500 student respondents.

“Every drinker should pay attention to how much alcohol they consume in order to maintain a healthy relationship with alcohol,” Haines said.

If you or anyone you know has a drinking problem, contact Alcoholics Anonymous at 800-452-7990 or University Health Services at 753-1311.