Dark Passage –
Jan. 10, 2020 – Experts said that the new findings could partly reflect the fact that baby boomers are aging and the health effects of chronic alcohol use have become more apparent. The increase in deaths might also reflect the increase in opioid-related deaths, which in many cases can involve alcohol as well, and that would be reflected on death certificates.
But these factors do not appear to wholly account for the increase in deaths among women, according to researchers. Aaron White, a senior scientific adviser to the institute, who analyzed the death-certificate data, said that a growing body of research shows that alcohol tends to harm women more than it does men, for example, involving heart health and some cancers.
He also noted that teenage use of alcohol, while in decline from earlier generations, has also reflected a narrowing of the gap between the behaviors of girls and boys; 10th grade girls are now as likely to drink as boys, he said, a sharp change over the decades. “Part of being liberated from male dominance is being able to behave in which way you choose,” Ms. Powell said.
