Because our bodies contain less water (and more fat) than men of the same weight, women absorb alcohol more quickly. And we absorb alcohol even more rapidly in the two weeks before menstruating. This is why women should never embark on drinking competitions with men unless they are prepared to cheat.
You can often tell when someone has been tippling just a bit, because his or her face goes red. This can be caused by alcohol-triggered rosacea, or because, when enzymes in the liver break down the alcohol, they first convert it to acetaldehyde, a toxic, cancer-linked chemical that, in people with an enzyme imbalance, is not itself broken down straight away and causes a telling flush to spread across the cheeks. When it first reaches the brain, in low concentrations, alcohol seems to act as a stimulant. After a while, it begins to act as a depressant. It is thought that the initial and woefully short excitement phase may be caused by alcohol suppressing inhibitory brain centres, hence relieving anxiety and so on, rather than by activating others to a state of previously unimaginable euphoria. In any case, it is the effect of alcohol on the brain centres that control your muscles, rather than its direct effect on the muscles themselves, that gets you into the sorts of trouble described above. Alcohol also impairs the body's ability to tighten blood vessels. This is quite important because, when you stand up to make that long trip to the bar, you rely on your blood vessels to constrict in order to maintain blood pressure. If they do not, gravity acts to reduce the flow of blood to the heart. This, according to an American study, is why you pass out. When you pass out, the body continues to absorb alcohol, which can lead to such high levels of alcohol in the blood that they cause death. This is to be avoided at all costs. The lesson is straight forward: if you cannot stay away from the bottle, then stay away from the doctor.
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