Alcoholism in Deaf Women

Tyas & Rush (1993) define a handicapped person as "anyone with a physical or mental disability that limits substantially one or more of such major life activities as walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, working, or learning" (Tyas & Rush, 1993, pp. 275-281). The susceptiblity of the disabled to alcohol-related problems has been a subject of considerable debate. Whether depression or low self-esteem within this population contributes to substance abuse remains unknown. At present, only sparse prevalence data exist (Moore & Polsgrove, 1991, pp. 65-90). This limited research, however, does suggest that substance abuse among the disabled is at least as prevalent as in the general population. Furthermore, among certain disabled populations, this abuse may merit increased therapeutic focus.

One group in particular which may be adversely affected by alcohol abuse consists of hearing-impaired women. Although no reliable

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ase dysfunction, anovulation, and early menopause (Gearhart, 1991, pp. 907-912). One reason for the apparent increased vulnerability of females to alcohol may relate to body water. Compared to males, females have a lower total body water content (i.e., 51 percent for females versus 65 percent for males). Since alcohol dilutes in water, lower body water content results in higher blood alcohol levels among women given the same doses of ethanol as men. Additionally, Frazza (cited in El-Guebaly, 1995, pp. 73-74) observed that women have lower levels of gastric alcohol dehydrogenase. In fact, among women, gastric alcohol dehydrogenase metabolizes only about 25 percent as much alcohol as it does in men. This ultimately results in more alcohol being absorbed into women's circulation. At present though, the relative contributions of decreased body water and increased gastrointestinal absorption towards the development of alcohol intoxication in women remain unclear. In addition, hormonal alterations and genetic vulnerability may also be involved. Regardless of the underlying physiological mechanisms, however, the particularly damaging effects of alcohol abuse among women are well documented. In addition to their biologic
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