New Study Shows Alcohol Triggers Higher Stress Response in Women’s Brains

Past studies have continually shown the women react to alcohol differently than men. They tend to metabolize alcohol more quickly and are subject to greater health effects as a result of regular drinking.

A study out of Idaho State University is taking a look at gender-specific differences in the way the brain reacts to alcohol. According to Dan Selvage, the researcher conducting the 5-year study, “Females tend to suffer the ravages of alcoholism much more quickly than males,” Selvage said. “Part of that’s due to metabolism, but another part of that is thought to be that alcohol activates body stress responses a lot more in females.”

Using rats as his subjects, Selvage has found that higher estrogen levels are linked to an increased stress response. This stress response prevents the person’s body from responding to the problem, thus causing more health problems. Selvage noted that alcohol tends to decrease testosterone secretion in males, but increases estrogen production in females.

Since women have more stress-related disorders, studies like these can help guide the way to gender-specific medical treatments for alcohol abuse.

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Alcohol May Affect Women’s Brains More (AP)

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Rise in Women Drinking Alcohol Notable in Recent Studies

A recent study coming out of Canada showed that 1 in 25 deaths worldwide are attributed to alcohol. The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) researchers concluded that a rise since 2000 was due to more women in the world drinking alcohol. Most of the deaths caused by alcohol were through injuries, cancer, cardiovascular disease and liver cirrhosis.

Here are some of the key findings of the study:

• Even though most adults worldwide abstain from drinking alcohol, consumption is common in many parts of the world
• For low-income countries, there is a strong relation between economic wealth and alcohol consumption: the higher the gross domestic product, the higher the overall volume of consumption and the lower the proportions of abstainers
• Alcohol contributes substantially to the global burden of disease (4% of total mortality and between 4% and 5% of disability-adjusted life-years), and thus is one of the largest avoidable risk factors
• Poor populations and low-income countries have an even greater disease burden per unit of alcohol consumption than do high-income populations and countries
• The consequences attributable to alcohol account for large costs to societies; they are not limited to health-care costs, but also include costs related to social harm

This last point was illustrated well in a recent CASA report. [CASA Spending Report Shows Maine Has Highest Burden of Substance Abuse and Addiction on a State Budget]

Read more about the CAMH study: New study shows 1 in 25 deaths worldwide attributable to alcohol

In other research news, women were also found to be binge drinking more in the United States, especially in college. The Washington University School of Medicine studied data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health and found an overall reduction in binge drinking between 1979 and 2006. However, in that time period, binge drinking for women ages 21 – 23 rose by 20% among non-students and a whopping 40% among college students. Most of the actual reductions in binge drinking came among males younger than 20. Researchers credited the 21 and over national drinking law as the cause for reduced binge drinking by teens. Of course, binge drinking rates for women ages 15 – 20 were unchanged.

Read more about the Washington University School of Medicine study: Higher drinking age linked to less binge drinking…except in college students

It is clear from both of these studies that more women are drinking at unhealthy rates and with unhealthy consequences. What seems to be missing from the studies is the why and what to do about it.

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Recovery Coaches Help Pregnant Women with Substance Abuse Problems

A recent study from the University of Illinois took a look at how the use of a recovery coach may benefit pregnant women struggling with substance abuse problems.

In the study, recovery coaches – case workers with special training in addiction, relapse prevention, case management and counseling – were shown to reduce the number of future substance-exposed babies and increase the likelihood that mothers will be reunited with their children removed by child welfare systems.

Participants of the study included 931 women who had lost temporary custody of their children and were chronic substance abusers. Half of the women received basic child welfare and substance abuse services, while the other half had the same basic services plus a recovery coach. The recovery coach’s goal was to get mothers into substance abuse treatment and keep them there.

The findings showed that 21% of mothers receiving standard services gave birth to additional substance abuse babies, while only 15% of mothers with recovery coaches gave birth to subsequent substance abuse children. According to the study, which lasted 5 years, recovery coaches saved the state of Illinois $5.5 million in foster care and other placement costs.

Read more about the study on the About.com:Alcoholism website: Recovery Coaches Reduce Babies Exposed to Drugs For Women With Substance Abuse Problems

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Study Shows Women’s Rate of Alcohol Dependence Climbing

A new study found an increase in alcohol dependence possibly due to American teenagers drinking at earlier ages. In particular, this increase in alcohol dependence seemed to be explained by women drinking at increasingly younger ages throughout time. While researchers saw an increase in earlier drinking and alcohol dependence in men, the changes were much more dramatic among women.

The study took a look at drinking habits among Americans born between 1934 and 1983, based on data from nearly 40,000 men and women who responded to 2 large national surveys — one conducted between 1991 and 1992, the other between 2001 and 2002. It’s findings were published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

The study showed women born between 1934 and 1943 began drinking at the average age of 22, while those born after 1963 typically started drinking when they were 17. While only 9% of women born between 1934 and 1943 had been alcohol dependent at some point in their lives, the percentage jumps to roughly 22% of women born after 1963. The increase in early drinking seemed to explain the higher incidence of alcohol dependence.

While the findings don’t necessarily prove that early drinking causes alcohol dependence, it does suggest that social factors may be contributing rather than just a genetic vulnerability. Women’s average age at first alcohol use and their rate of alcohol dependence both shifted significantly in a matter of decades. “Genes don’t change in that amount of time,” explained lead researcher Dr. Richard A. Grucza, of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Certainly, women gaining more independence, working outside the home and furthering their educations throughout time have helped.

Read about the study in this Reuters Health article, Early drinking may raise risk of alcoholism

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