From Dependency to Discovery: How At-Home Tests Could Shape Our Understanding of Women's Health and Alcohol

Excessive alcohol intake is a risk to women’s health

Now more than ever, research is coming to light about the detrimental effects of excessive alcohol usage. While alcohol misuse by anyone presents a series of health concerns, recent research suggests women who abuse alcohol have a higher risk of certain alcohol-related problems compared to men.

In fact, the number of deaths in women attributed to alcohol-related liver disease in England increased from 1,533 to 2,190 between 2015 and 2021; a 42% rise throughout the time period.

 

An increase in women drinking alcohol

Throughout the last few years, there has also been more research suggesting for the first time in history, women are binge drinking more than men. To no one’s surprise, the most dominating factors causing women of today’s society to abuse alcohol are circled around stress and mental health issues. Regarding such factors, women are more likely to experience mental health effects such as anxiety and depression which can encourage alcohol abuse and binge drinking as a coping mechanism.

Katherine Keyes, a professor, and epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, supports this concept and has recently shared her view of:

 ‘Alcohol being sold to women as part of a luxury lifestyle, having a good time and a way to reduce stress.’

Certainly, this may be encouraging women to lean on the substance and rely on it for comfort.

Moreover, trauma is another common factor contributing to the reasoning behind why some women develop an alcohol disorder.

In fact, did you know that women who have PTSD at some point in their lives are 2.5 times more likely to also have alcohol abuse or dependence than women who have never had PTSD? In comparison, according to other research, men are only 2 times more likely to have alcohol-related issues if they have ever acquired PTSD.

 

So, why does alcohol affect women more than men?

Despite men being more likely to consume larger amounts of alcohol, the biological differences and alternative body structures between the sexes mean most women tend to absorb more alcohol than men. Unfortunately, this is making women more susceptible to the long-term negative health effects of alcohol.

For example:

-              Women tend to be smaller than men so alcohol can have a greater effect.

-              The female body produces less of an alcohol-processing enzyme called ‘alcohol dehydrogenase’ in the liver, consequently allowing a greater proportion of alcohol to reach other organs.

-              Women have less water in their bodies meaning the alcohol that is absorbed is of higher concentration.

 

A re-cap of the possible effects of alcohol on women’s health

Sexual Health and Libido

For women, the prevalence of low libido is relatively common, with up to 46% of women in the US experiencing it at some point in their lives. Unsurprisingly, as alcohol intake can have an impact on psychological factors including stress, anxiety, and depression, it can also affect libido. For women consuming large amounts of alcohol, libido can be reduced due to the substances acting as a depressant and slowing down brain function, breathing and blood flow; ultimately, resulting in lower physiological arousal.

 

Fertility, Pregnancy & Breastfeeding

More well recognised, consuming alcohol during pregnancy can increase the risk of miscarriage and premature birth. Thankfully, the prevalence of fatal alcohol syndrome; the most severe result of prenatal drinking, is extremely rare and affects less than 1% of women.

However, lots of research has arisen to support the significant effect of alcohol on women’s hormones and menstrual cycle, therefore making it harder to conceive if women consume over the recommended allowances.

Over recent years, more and more health authorities have been increasing their warnings around alcohol and women aiming to conceive, as research demonstrates it can be harmful to fertility as well as the health of the pregnancy and the baby.

To support, a study from 2023 found that a moderate intake of just 3-6 alcoholic drinks per week reduced a woman’s chance of a successful conception by 44%.

 

Cancers

Alongside potential issues around fertility, alcohol consumption can be strongly associated with cancers. More specifically, studies have found that around 1 in 10 breast cancer cases in the UK are caused by drinking alcohol. Moreover, drinking alcohol can be associated with bowel cancer, mouth cancer, throat cancer and liver cancer in women.

 

The science…

When we consume alcohol, our bodies turn the substance into a chemical (acetaldehyde), and this has the potential to damage our cells and stop them from repairing damage. On top of this, alcohol encourages the increase of hormone levels such as oestrogen and insulin which can increase the likelihood of dividing cells and therefore developing cancer.

 

Introducing Seek and how Katie Garry is bringing light to the health implications from alcohol:

Some of the Life Science team at Jackson Hogg had the opportunity to meet with Katie Garry; CEO of Seek, who is on a mission to find out exactly how alcohol affects women on a more personal level. As a company striving to better women’s health, Seek has created the first at-home lab test that measures the impacts of alcohol on women’s health. In a nutshell, Seek is striving to help women identify early indicators of alcohol-related disease before a diagnosis.  The company uses finger prick sample collection to measure 7 biomarkers across core categories that are sensitive to alcohol consumption, providing women with insights into how alcohol impacts them individually. There are also add-ons for reproductive health, menopause, and breast cancer!

 

Katies spark for Seek and her opinion on increasing alcohol-related issues arising among women:

“The first alarm bell was around 8 years ago when I was working for a women’s health magazine. My job was literally researching and writing about issues related to women’s health, so I was super healthy. While I was working there, I got blood work back from my doctor which was a little bit abnormal. Since I was healthy in every other area of my life, my doctor said it could be because of alcohol. When I asked for more information, he didn’t really have any. He said drinking could impact my body differently but didn’t have answers beyond this.”

 

“For the next several years, I would always shyly bring up drinking at different specialist appointments, whether it was the OB/GYN or dermatologist. I still didn’t get answers to questions I asked about specific symptoms I was having, whether it was cystic acne or missing my period.”

 

“Last year, as Dry January became more popular and I started to see more non-alcoholic drinks on menus, I finally decided to dig deeper into how alcohol impacts women’s health. Right around the same time, JAMA released a study revealing that nearly 15% more women were dying from alcohol-related conditions. This year that number has jumped to 35% in the US and 46% in the UK. This reinforced my belief in the need for Seek and inspired us to move quickly.”

 

As Brits, we were intrigued to investigate the cultural issues that may affect alcohol consumption – Katie’s perspective on cultural factors affecting alcohol: US VS UK:

“I had my first alcoholic drink in my early teens, which is completely crazy. I’m passionate about educating parents on the impact this can have on young girls. It can have a huge effect on our brain development, hormones and our reproductive health. Girls who start drinking under the age of 16 are around 50% more likely to be life-long drinkers. The age our girls start drinking can also put them at a greater risk of developing alcohol use disorder (AUD), in some instances more so than having a family history of AUD.”

 

“I think drinking culture in the US is very similar to drinking culture in the UK. With Gen Z today things seem to be changing, which is great, but generations that grew up drinking more have a tougher time changing their habits - especially millennials and Gen X. In college and throughout our 20s, most of our social activities revolved around alcohol, whether it was a bottomless brunch, concert or work event. Alcohol is heavily marketed to women and for a long time was marketed as a wellness product, which is completely insane, but it worked.”

 

An overview of Seek

“The problem that we want to solve with Seek isn’t necessarily that more women are dying from alcohol-related health conditions, even though this is true, extremely acute and alarming. The bigger problem, which we’re tackling head-on, is that most women don’t want to stop drinking. They just want to cut back. In the same way, they want to cut back on sugar, processed foods and other things we know aren’t good for us, but still find their way into our diets from time to time. If we don’t tackle the bigger problem, we won’t even scratch the surface with the obvious problem, which is that alcohol is impacting women disproportionately to men, and the numbers are rising – quickly.”

 

“Our mission at Seek is to help women feel better today and years down the line. In the near term, Seek helps women address alcohol-related symptoms that we all just put up with - whether it’s puffy skin, anxiety or trouble sleeping. In the long term, we help women prevent the top alcohol-related conditions, including heart disease and breast cancer. It’s really what you want to focus on based on your health goals, lifestyle, genetics, and of course - your drinking habits.”

 

The inspiration behind an at-home lab test:

“We wanted to release an at-home lab test specifically because it empowers women to get more information about how alcohol impacts their health, on their own terms. It’s personalized, it’s private and our test is extremely affordable - especially when you compare it to the cost of similar lab panels at clinics, which are upwards of $1,800. We were able to get our Signature Alcohol Health Test down to $134, which I’m extremely proud of.”

 

“Our test results are packaged in a way that’s easy to understand, even if you’ve never gotten lab work done before. If you want to go through your results with your doctor, we give you the option to easily download and print a lab report with your results in a format they’ll be familiar with. If you want to complete the entire testing experience at home with, Seek, you can do that. If you want to loop in your PCP or another specialist after getting your results, you can do that as well. The Seek experience is genuinely what you want it to be.”

What Seek is excelling at:

“I think what we do well is provide women with insights related to how alcohol impacts their health that they can’t get anywhere else. We also personalize these insights to their body, lifestyle and health goals, which you can’t get anywhere else.

 

Something else I’m extremely proud of, which a lot of our beta users loved, is that the Seek testing experience is designed in a way to make you feel supported, not alone. We package our test results and alcohol health plans with motivational insights and stats about where you stack up in comparison to women with similar drinking habits and health goals. We want women to understand that small drinking modifications do make a clinical difference, especially when you follow them consistently. Community is also a huge part of what we’re building and something we’ll continue to invest more in.”

 

Visualizing the product in the market in the future:

“Seek is finally giving women a mindful drinking approach that works, and they’re excited about. The science behind Seek focuses specifically on how alcohol impacts the female body. We take this a step further by personalizing the Seek testing experience to your drinking habits, health goals and genetics. While the test we’ve developed is fundamental to this, I really see it as more of a key to unlocking everything to come. We want to help women keep all of the things they like about drinking and throw out the rest. What we’ve introduced today is a strong first step, but it’s really only the beginning.”

 

Overall, gender differences regarding the effects of alcohol on the body will always be prominent, however, there is no doubt that the global increase in alcohol consumption among women and young girls is concerning. Hopefully, with more research and advancing technologies, more healthcare companies can take inspiration from companies like Seek and investigate and shine a light on the impacts of alcohol on one’s individual health.