The higher your IQ coefficient is, the more drinks you take daily. These are the results of a research made by the Medical Research Council and published in the "American Journal of Public Health," which points that women are particularly prone to drink heavily in their thirties, if they have an over-the-average intelligence.

It seems that being smart enough to know the bad effects of alcohol is not enough and the stressful jobs of high-skilled professionals push them to the alcohol relief. This is especially true if women attempt to ascend in male-dominated professions.

"An explanation might be that success in the workplace requires, in some circumstances, a willingness to drink frequently and to excess in social situations," wrote the authors led by David Batty of the MRC's social and public health sciences unit at Glasgow University.

The team investigated a pool of 8,170 men and women born in the UK during one week in 1970. Their IQ scores at age 10 was compared with data on their alcohol consumption and drink issues at age 30.

It appeared that the men and women who scored higher for childhood mental ability tests displayed higher rates of problem drinking in adulthood, and the likelihood of drink issue was increased for intelligent women compared to men.

It appeared that men and women who drank most days scored the best in childhood mental ability tests, whereas individuals totally abstinent had the lowest marks at the mental ability tests. The largest percentage of women with a history of alcohol issues was amongst those with professional and managerial jobs.

Overall 47% of men and 22% of women had drinking issues, consuming over the recommended upper limits of 21 units weekly for men and 14 units weekly for women, in the conditions that alcohol-related death rate in the UK has the tendency to rise, from 12.9 deaths per 100,000 in 2005 to 13.4 in 2006.