Women are likelier to succumb to the toxic effects of alcohol on the liver, heart muscle, skeletal muscle, and probably the pancreas and brain. Women develop higher blood alcohol levels than men do, even when the drink the same amount of alcohol. The way the stomach works to metabolize alcohol could be a link between women's greater risk of certain alcohol-related diseases and higher blood alcohol levels after drinking.
Alcohol is the most frequently used drug in most cultures, including in the United States.
This is true for the liver, heart muscle, skeletal muscle, and it may be true for the pancreas and the brain. In other words, there is something about the female gender that makes them more susceptible to toxic amounts of alcohol. Charles S. Lieber, professor of medicine and pathology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine , and chief of the Alcohol Research and Treatment Center at the Bronx VA Medical Center, agrees with Schenker. In fact, some studies have shown that the minimal amount necessary to produce cirrhosis in the liver in women is two to three times less than in men. Additionally, because of the higher blood level of alcohol in their blood, women are more vulnerable to the alcohol's central nervous system effects.