Alcohol and tobacco, women are in danger

“It all started after my separation. I couldn't bear to be alone, I chained afterworks and dinners with friends… Each time with a lot of alcohol. It made me feel good… I started to worry when I began to have irrepressible urges to have a drink…”

Like Jeanne P., overactive publishing manager, 14.9% of women present risky consumption according to the 2020 barometer of Public Health France. "Exceeding the maximum recommended threshold of two glasses a day every day, with two days of abstinence, in other words 10 weekly units, exposes you to health problems and potential addictive disorders, explains Professor Karila, psychiatrist and specialist in addictions, author of the book L'Alcoolisme au feminine (editions Leduc and J'ai Lu). Women must be wary of excesses because they are particularly vulnerable. The risk factors for addiction are identical to those of men, but women are more exposed to some of them. The same is true for tobacco. »

The first factor is linked to the socio-economic evolution of society: until the middle of the 20th century, it was inconceivable for a woman to drink or smoke, but very quickly the tobacco and alcohol industries relied on their desire for emancipation to target them with appropriate marketing (fine and “feminine” cigarettes, light alcohols, packaging design, etc.).

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The results are there: if the consumption of these legal drugs has decreased overall since the 1960s and 1970s, the decline began later for women and with less intensity. Thus, women's smoking is now similar to that of men and, among young adults, the use of alcohol is tending towards parity.

“In addition to this environmental factor, there is an unfavorable psychological context,” explains Professor Karila. Women are indeed more affected by depression, anxiety disorders, but also by chronic stress, generated among other things by a strong mental load since they often combine family and professional activities. Alcohol, but also tobacco, then constitutes a form of self-medication which unfortunately has the opposite effect of that sought since, in the medium term, alcohol promotes psychiatric disorders. »

Moreover, for the same quantity of alcohol absorbed, the blood alcohol level is higher in women and the alcohol remains concentrated longer in the blood and tissues. This partly explains another inequality: alcohol has more deleterious effects on their health. It strongly promotes high blood pressure, heart attack, cerebral hemorrhage and neurological damage. And 17% of breast cancers are attributed to it.

Tobacco also has more harmful effects in women. Problematic consumption of alcohol and tobacco should therefore be detected and treated as early as possible in women, insists Professor Karila. “However, women consult later for their addiction and it is still very difficult to hospitalize them. This is another point of vulnerability. »