WHY DO WOMEN APPEAR TO DEVELOP ALCOHOLIC LIVER DISEASE MORE READILY THAN MEN?

Abstract

In the last 20 years evidence has accumulated which suggests that women develop alcoholic liver disease more readily than do men. A number of factors have been hypothesized as contributing to their increased susceptibility. Differences in nutritional intake were initially thought to play a large role in the development of alcoholic liver disease. However, more recently, a number of constitutional and other environmental factors have been investigated. It is suggested that there is much to be gained from studies which consider factors in combination rather than in isolation. It is possible that more than one factor contributes to the differing suscceptibility in males and females. In addition, it is likely that some of the proposed factors are not independent of one another. The relative importance of each factor in explaining the difference between sexes, and their degree of independence can only be assessed in multivariate studies.