The fact that men and women react differently to alcohol consumption and addiction, health and behavior risks, disease and death is well known and accepted. Women get drunker faster on less alcohol than men, but fewer women drink either occasionally or heavily, and men are more likely to become dependent on alcohol. However the theories on the cause of those differences vary widely. Research studies and surveys often yield conflicting results. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) strategic plan on health disparities notes that “Chronic alcohol abuse can result in alcoholic cardiomyopathy (ACM), and there, too disparities appear to exist” in terms of causes or propensity among different populations. *Paper presentation: “Gender modulates the response to chronic alcohol intoxication in the heart,” 12:30 p.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday April 5, Physiology 909.5 /board #A130. On view 7:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. Thomas C. Vary is presenting the research at the 35th Congress of the International Union of Physiological Sciences in San Diego, March 31 - April 5, 2005.
