Drinking and Your Health-Topic Overview
Drinking and Your Health-Topic Overview
Drinking and Your Health Guide
Drinking has a greater effect on women because they typically weigh less. But this isn't the only reason. Women's bodies have less water than men's bodies. Alcohol mixes with body water, so alcohol is more concentrated and more "powerful" in women than in men. Think of putting a drop of red food coloring in both a small and a large cup of water. The water in the smaller cup will be much redder.
To find out if the amount of alcohol you drink could be harmful, take a short quiz:
It's important to remember that the only way to guarantee that drinking alcohol will not harm you at all is to not drink at all.
Need help cutting back or quitting?
If you're worried about your health and want to stop drinking or cut back on how much you drink, your doctor can help you. For more information about quitting drinking, see:
To get some tips on how to limit how much alcohol you drink, see:
There are certain times when drinking any amount of alcohol is unhealthy. You should not drink if:
Drinking and Your Health - Topic Overview
Drinking and Your Health Guide
How much drinking is safe? continued...
Drinking has a greater effect on women because they typically weigh less. But this isn't the only reason. Women's bodies have less water than men's bodies. Alcohol mixes with body water, so alcohol is more concentrated and more "powerful" in women than in men. Think of putting a drop of red food coloring in both a small and a large cup of water. The water in the smaller cup will be much redder.
To find out if the amount of alcohol you drink could be harmful, take a short quiz:
- Interactive Tool: Do You Have a Drinking Problem?
It's important to remember that the only way to guarantee that drinking alcohol will not harm you at all is to not drink at all.
Need help cutting back or quitting?
If you're worried about your health and want to stop drinking or cut back on how much you drink, your doctor can help you. For more information about quitting drinking, see:
To get some tips on how to limit how much alcohol you drink, see:
When is ANY drinking unhealthy or unsafe?
There are certain times when drinking any amount of alcohol is unhealthy. You should not drink if:
- You need to drive a car or operate other machinery.
- You are pregnant. Drinking during pregnancy makes a miscarriage or fetal alcohol syndrome more likely. A child who was exposed to alcohol in the womb may have physical and emotional problems. These problems can range from mild difficulties to severe birth defects.
- You take certain medicines. Ask your doctor or pharmacist whether you can safely drink alcohol with any of the medicines you are taking. Common medicines that interact with alcohol include:
- Acetaminophen (such as Tylenol).
- Antibiotics.
- Antihistamines.
- Aspirin and other medicines to prevent clotting of blood (anticoagulants).
- Tranquilizers.
- Some medicines to treat depression (antidepressants) or other mental disorders.
- Medicines to treat diabetes (hypoglycemics).
- Any medicine that can make you drowsy (check the label).
- You have certain health problems. Ask your doctor whether you can safely drink alcohol if you have any of the following problems:
- Liver, stomach, and intestine problems.
- Heart failure and high blood pressure.
- Certain blood disorders.
- Problems with alcohol abuse.
- Mental health problems.
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