TOKYO -- While efforts to avoid excessive drinking have recently increased in Japan due to the health risks involved, women need to be particularly cautious as they may develop serious illnesses such as liver cirrhosis at a faster rate if they drink at the same pace as men.

It is still not widely known that women are more susceptible to the effects of alcohol, despite measures including an awareness-raising week for alcohol-related problems which runs through Nov. 16.

Yoko Muramatsu, a senior researcher at the NLI Research Institute, compiled a report on alcohol based on the 2023 National Health and Nutrition Survey conducted by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

According to the report, the daily amount of pure alcohol considered to pose a high risk is 40 grams or more for men and 20 grams or more for women. The amount of pure alcohol can be calculated by multiplying the "amount of a beverage consumed" by its "alcohol concentration" and then by 0.8. A 350-milliliter can of beer with 5% alcohol contains 14 grams of pure alcohol, meaning that about 2.8 cans and 1.4 cans would cause a high risk for men and women, respectively.

Some alcoholic beverage companies in Japan now label their products with the amount of pure alcohol they contain.

The proportion of people who drink at high-risk levels stood at 14.1% among men and 9.5% among women. Looking at trends since 2010, the figures for men have remained almost the same, while those for women are experiencing a rising trend. By age, high-risk drinking was most common among men in their 40s at 23.6%. For women, the numbers were high among those in their 40s at 13.5% and 50s at 14.6%.

The danger alcohol poses for young people in their teens and 20s whose brains are still developing is well known, but Muramatsu pointed out that the risk is also significant for women. "Because there have traditionally been fewer women who drink, this issue was often overlooked. Awareness about appropriate alcohol consumption for women has only recently started to be promoted, and many women still do not realize they are drinking too much," she explained.

According to the health ministry, women have a lower percentage of body water and can metabolize less alcohol than men. In addition, female hormones make women more susceptible to the effects of alcohol. There are cases in which women have developed liver cirrhosis after a short period of drinking relatively small amounts of alcohol. This is why the safe daily amount of pure alcohol for women is set at half that for men.

As more women enter the workforce, opportunities for them to consume alcohol are increasing. Some may end up drinking more while keeping pace with men. Muramatsu noted that while men tend to improve unhealthy habits like a lack of sleep after retirement, women often do not change their lifestyles after leaving their jobs, and the same pattern may apply to drinking. She emphasized, "It's important to raise awareness among women to avoid drinking at levels that pose high health risks."

(Japanese original by Yuko Shimada, Business News Department)