What is your glass ceiling?

As the winter party season gets under way, the temptation to indulge in extra quantities of wines, beers and spirits is greater than ever. But do you know what all those additional units of alcohol are doing to your body? We look at three women's drinking habits - and ask why are women more affected by alcohol than men?

BINGE DRINKER

AVERAGE WEEKLY UNITS: 35

Emma Crosby, a 32-year-old fashion agent, shares a flat in North London with friends. She says:

I work hard during the week, so I really let myself go at weekends. I love socialising, and if there's a party I get swept away with the atmosphere and don't see the point in censoring myself or avoiding a hangover - which is pretty inevitable.

Last weekend I started a day early, on Thursday evening, with an Irish whiskey party with my boyfriend's friends. I love whiskey and went through the whole menu, drinking nine whiskey cocktails. That was on top of about three Jack Daniels and Coke, which I'd had before going out to get in the mood.

I got quite drunk and still have scars on my legs from when I must have slipped over. I had a throbbing headache all the next day, and had to face clients pinkeyed. When my friends asked me out the following evening, I couldn't face it.

Generally, I'll go out partying on a Friday and Saturday night, drinking wine or spirits throughout the evening. The number of drinks often goes into double figures.

The next day is usually a write-off. I'll either curl up on the sofa or go back to bed because I feel groggy and lethargic. But I don't mind - I accept hangovers as the inevitable result of a good night out.

I don't come from a big drinking family. My mum is a light drinker, and when I was younger, she used to worry when I went out with friends and stumbled home drunk.

My boyfriend sometimes tells me I drink too much - but he drinks more than me, so he's in no position to comment.

I don't believe that going for it once or twice a week is really doing me any harm. I come down with colds quite badly - probably because I smoke - but otherwise I consider myself to be fairly healthy.

During the week, if I stay in, I'll drink a few glasses of wine - sometimes a whole bottle - while my boyfriend drinks some beer. Otherwise, I won't touch anything because I want to feel fresh and alert for work the following day.'

Dr Guy Ratcliffe, director of the Medical Council on Alcohol, says: Emma is drinking large quantities on an irregular basis. Because she isn't drinking regularly, her body cannot build up alcohol breakdown enzymes, which produce alcohol tolerance, so the alcohol's effects on her body will be twice as toxic.

Drunkenness occurs when the level of alcohol exceeds the liver's ability to break it down. Alcohol then spreads into blood, body tissues and the brain, and the higher the levels, the more toxic it is.

By drinking high quantities - say, more than 14 units in four hours - Emma will be significantly damaging her liver, brain tissue and memory. Because brain cells do not grow back, any damage will be irreversible.

In the blood, high levels of alcohol will be causing significant oxidation and free-radical damage, contributing to ageing and stiffening of the arteries.

Heart disease risk doubles in people who drink excessively. Alcohol, even in small quantities, also raises blood pressure.

Nutritionist Patrick Holford says: High levels of alcohol ingestion will damage the gut lining, which is only one cell thick in the small intestine. Because it takes four days to recover, the gut will be left permeable and 'leaky'.

Undigested food molecules entering the blood can then increase the risk of abnormal
immune reactions, which can lead to allergies and fatigue.

Because of damage to the gut, people who binge drink regularly over years are more than twice as likely to develop stomach and intestinal ulcers, as well as gastrointestinal cancers.

Alcohol also breaks down B-vitamins and antioxidants such as vitamin C, which protect body tissues from damage and disease. An alcohol binge will strip your body of these vital nutrients, leaving you feeling tired and prone to infection in the following days.

Because alcohol turns to sugar very quickly, if you drink fast and heavily, you get a huge sugar surge and energy buzz. This drops off suddenly the next day, leaving you feeling low and exhausted.

The liver - the organ of detoxification - is placed under huge strain when you binge drink. If you binge regularly, it can lead to permanent liver damage and ultimately cirrhosis, where the liver is so scarred it no longer works properly.

HEAVY DRINKER

AVERAGE WEEKLY UNITS: 55

Kate Moon, 31, a freelance TV producer, lives in a flat in Highgate, North London. She says:

MY JOB is quite stressful, so I drink to help me relax. I go to the pub every lunchtime with my colleagues - or on my own sometimes - and have a pint or two. In the evenings, I'll probably have a bottle of wine to myself. Once I start one, I tend to finish it - it's hard to abstain.

The next morning I feel awful; very heady and red-eyed. But this passes, and I'm up for it again the next evening.

The weekends are when I go out with my friends to get drunk - to the point where I often feel sick. We go out to a pub until closing time, then back to my flat where we carry on drinking. My friends are fairly like-minded, and the amount we drink goes into double figures on a Friday and Saturday night.

I suppose I sound like a massive boozer - but I'm just having fun. I have had a few dodgy incidents, though. One New Year I was drinking from 4pm until about 4am. I have no idea how much I drank, but I was violently ill and passed out in the bathroom. The next morning, I had the shakes, but I still managed a Bloody Mary that evening.

Even though I've had terrible hangovers, I don't really think about my health. My parents, who aren't big drinkers, have no idea how much I consume. If I go to their house for dinner, I have only a couple of glasses of wine.

When you look at the amount I drink, on paper, it does seem a lot. But I know loads of people who drink as much as me. I am only 31, and if I can't enjoy myself now, when can I? Drinking is a huge part of our culture and my profession, and, for the moment, I thoroughly enjoy it.

Dr Jonathan Chick, consultant psychiatrist at Edinburgh Alcohol Problems Service, says: Figures show that a quarter of women aged 16 to 24 drink more than 14 units of alcohol a week - the upper limit for safe drinking as stated by the Royal College of Physicians.

Kate, who drinks four times this amount, is putting her body, and her liver, under immense strain.

Her heavy drinking habit increases her likelihood of getting cirrhosis of the liver, breast cancer and longterm memory loss - but more worrying are the short-term effects. Her night out on New Year's Eve could easily have led to her having her stomach pumped out in hospital.

Kate needs to stop and think about what she's doing, or she could find herself on a slippery slope.

Nutritionist Patrick Holford says:

Around 33,000 people die of alcohol-related diseases in the UK every year, and Kate's level of drinking is going to double her risk for breast cancer and heart disease.

Alcohol drains every single known nutrient out of the body. It also depresses almost every brain function, from balance to breathing.

Regular drinking raises tolerance, so heavier drinkers can drink more without getting drunk - but that is only until liver damage reverses the process. Then damage to the brain and the rest of the body speeds up.

To put it simply, the human body simply can't cope with this amount of alcohol on a long-term basis.

Sadly, if Kate carries on in this way, she is probably shortening her lifespan by 15 years.

REGULAR DRINKER

AVERAGE WEEKLY UNITS: 20

JULIA McGARVEY, 32, a data analyst, is married and lives in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.

She says: ENJOYING a few bottles of good wine was always part of mealtimes at home. It got conversation flowing and could lead to heated debates and some hilarious moments around the dinner table.

I drink most days of the week, whether at home, in the pub or eating in a restaurant. In the week, I'll drink anything from one to three glasses of wine, but that might go up to five glasses at weekends.

I think I drink more at home than some people I know. We have a shed full of wine from a booze cruise to France, so we're stocked to the hilt. Last year we did this twice, because you can save so much money by just popping across the Channel.

We both enjoy sharing a bottle over dinner - it's pleasant and relaxing. I know that drinking too much alcohol regularly isn't good for your health, so I try to make sure I have the odd day off, and I go running twice a week to keep fit.

For me, drinking and socialising go hand in hand, and as long as I feel fairly healthy and happy, I'd be loathe to sacrifice it.'

Dr Guy Ratcliffe says: By drinking moderately and regularly, Julia's body will have built up enzymes which specialise in breaking down alcohol, helping her body to relieve its toxic load.

It means that, on average, every unit of alcohol is doing her 50 pc less damage than for someone who drinks irregularly.

She is just within the upper range recommended for women for safe alcohol consumption - but that's provided she drinks the same amount every day.

However, this isn't what she's doing. By drinking five or more glasses of wine several times a week, she is straining her liver.

And because she is drinking almost every day, the alcohol may be irritating her gut and leaving it no chance to recover. This can, in turn, impair digestion and absorption of nutrients.

As with binge drinking, moderate drinking does affect brain function over time. As soon as you feel drunk, your brain is affected and the tissue is being damaged. Even when sober, your memory and cognitive powers are likely to be less astute than if you were a non-drinker.

Patrick Holford says: Drinking regularly disturbs blood sugar control and contributes to weight gain.

Drinking every day will almost certainly result in low levels of immune-boosting nutrients such as vitamin C and zinc, increasing your risk of catching colds and flu.