Gender differences in moderate drinking effects

Women appear to become move impaired than men after drinking equivalent amo unts of alcohol, achieving higher blood alcohol concentrations even when do ses are adjusted for body weight. This finding may be attributable in part to gender differences in fetal body water content. Men and women appear to eliminate approximately the same total amount of alcohol per unit body weig ht per hour. However, women seem to eliminate significantly move alcohol pe r unit of lean body mass per hour than men. Some studies report that women are more susceptible than men to alcohol-related impairment of cognitive pe rformance, especially in tasks involving delayed memory or divided attentio n functions. Psychomotor performance impairment, however, does not appear t o be affected by gender. This article provides an overview of alcohol metab olism (pharmacokinetics) and reviews recent studies on gender differences i n alcohol absorption, distribution, elimination, and impairment. Speculatio n that gender differences in alcohol pharmacokinetics or alcohol-induced pe rformance impairment may be caused by the menstrual cycle and variations in female sex hormones are discussed. It is concluded that the menstrual cycl e is unlikely to influence alcohol pharmacokinetics.