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Alcohol affects men and women differently.  New research reveals that the increased risk of death associated with alcohol consumption is not the same for both sexes.

Researchers looked at data from 2.5 million people, and compared the amount of alcohol consumed and death from all causes in men and women.

The study revealed that the differences between men and women became greater as alcohol intake increased, according to researchers.

Lead researcher Chao Wang and colleagues from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical Sciences (Beijing, China) assessed the link between the dose of alcohol consumed and the risk of death by comparing the results for drinkers versus non-drinkers among male and female drinkers.

The study revealed that female drinkers had a higher risk of all-cause mortality than male drinkers. Researchers said that this was especially true in heavy drinkers.

"While alcoholism is more common in men than women, female drinkers face greater risks to their health compared with male drinkers," Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Women's Health, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women's Health, Richmond, VA, and President of the Academy of Women's Health, said in a news release.

The findings are published in the Journal of Women's Health.