Male and Female Drinking

Two recent reports point up some of the differences between men and women. The first describes how women who drink moderately have sharper minds, compared with never-drinkers. The study, which was done at Columbia University , NY , was reported in the journal Stroke. Data from over 2200 women, average age 69, analyzed results of the well-known Mini Mental State Exam to assess mental function (cognitive ability). Moderate women drinkers (one to two drinks a day) scored significantly better on the 30-point scale than never-drinkers. Former drinkers, light drinkers, and heavy drinkers, as well as all the men in the study, didn’t score significantly better than the never-drinkers.

The other study, reported in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society, examined what the researchers called ‘at-risk drinkers’ – people who had more than two drinks a couple of times a week and they also had conditions that put them at more risk, e.g. gout, gastric ulcers, depression, or use of pain medications and sedatives. Overall, the mortality of at-risk drinkers was 12% greater than not-at-risk drinkers. (The abstainers had an 8% increase in mortality over the not-at-risk drinkers.) Men at-risk drinkers had a 20% increases risk of death compared to not-at-risk drinkers, while women at-risk drinkers and abstainers had no increased risk of death compared to not-at-risk women drinkers.

So, it looks as if healthy moderate-drinking women have a huge advantage over at-risk drinking men – they are likely to be smarter, and to live longer. But, be careful; another study next month may provide a completely different reading!