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A preclinical study on mice revealed on Monday that high levels of estrogen may make women addicted to alcohol. According to a preclinical study led by scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine, the female sex hormone estrogen controls women's tendency to consume alcohol.
The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, revealed that high levels of estrogen increase the tendency to consume excessive alcohol in women and this finding could help in understanding their behaviour.
“We know very little about what drives drinking behavior in women because most studies of alcohol use have been conducted in men,” said senior author Dr. Kristen Pleil, associate professor of pharmacology at the university.
- more sensitive than men
Yet recent studies show that women drink more alcohol than men, Pleil said, making them more vulnerable than men to the negative health effects of alcohol.
The expert said, "Many studies show that habitual drinking increases the harmful effects of alcohol." He said that these findings could lead to new ways of treating alcohol use disorder in women. To assess the possible involvement of estrogen, the team first monitored hormone levels during the oestrous cycle (similar to the menstrual cycle in women) of female mice and then gave them alcohol.
- Encourages you to drink more alcohol-
The results showed that higher levels of circulating estrogen in women led them to drink more alcohol than on days when their estrogen was lower.
Dr. Kristen Pleil said, "When a woman takes the first sip from a bottle of alcohol, her neurons go out of control. If she is in a high-estrogen state, they go even more out of control." Based on the study, she said that the effect of extra neural activity was seen on rats. It was clear that when the level of estrogen increased, they consumed more alcohol. This trend was especially evident within the first 30 minutes of alcohol.
