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Christy Feig: For men and women, drinking alcohol is not on a level playingfield, women will usually get drunk quicker than men.
Woman: I really don't consider it and I drink as much as I can drink.
Christy Feig: But that'll do more than give her a hangover. Researchers say women have more fat cells and less water than men, so alcohol becomes more concentrated in their bodies and that can damage organs like the liver, heart and brain faster. Doctors say two drinks a day for women can contribute to lots of diseases.
Denise Russo: Including cancer, stroke, er, heart disease, er, bone problems, er, lung infections.
Christy Feig:So what is considered one drink? 12 ounces of beer, only 5 ounces of wine, which is about half a cup and one and a half ounces of hard liquor. According to the government, anything more than one drink a day for women is considered heavy drinking, and drinking during pregnancy is a real nono. It's been known to cause facial deformities and cognitive and development problems in newborns. Now new research suggests when pregnant women drink it could cause other difficulties.
Denise Russo: We see this in their offspring, in their, in their daughters who have a higher , er, rate of drinking if they were born of moms who drank during pregnancy , and we don't see this in boys.
Christy Feig: But what about the positive health effects that research says alcohol has like protecting your heart ? It takes three drinks a week to get the benefit, but women who are predisposed to breast cancer, lose the cardiac benefits.
In Washington, I'm Christy Feig.
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