Women, Menopause, and Alcohol Abuse
Over the past decade study has found that for many women the onset of alcohol abuse coincides with changes in hormone levels - changes that many women are unaware of in the early stages. When this is combined with other stresses in their lives - job changes, condition concerns, children leaving home - women can find themselves abusing alcohol for the first time in their lives.
Women, Menopause, and Alcohol Abuse
In our teens, 20s and 30s, our ovaries and adrenal glands furnish a form of estrogen called estrodiol. Later, while our mid to late 40s and early 50s, our ovaries begin producing less estrogen, leaving more of the work to our adrenal glands. As the adrenal glands take over the job, estrogen drops, spikes and drops again-rather erratically. At this point, many women report that they start to get forgetful and experience "foggy thinking" and moodiness. That's because our brains work good when estrogen levels are steady. These are the first signs of menopause and, sometimes, the beginning of escalating alcohol consumption as a means of easing assorted unfamiliar discomforts.
While general menopause is a gradual process that starts in the middle of the ages of 45 and 55, there are a whole of things that can lead to this whole process beginning earlier than normal, in other words - premature menopause. Sometimes these are a succeed of lifestyle choices that consist of the following:
1. Heavy drinking (defined as more than 1 glass of wine, 12 ozs. Of beer, or 1.5 oz. Of liquor daily);
2. Heavy smoking;
3. Poor nutrition;
4. Continuing stress to the body - together with excessive athletic training.
Indeed, heavy alcohol consumption alone may railroad the onset of menopause by as much as five years.
As we reach full menopause, our estrogen yield will have dropped by 75%-90% and we normally start experiencing other menopausal symptoms - hot flashes, tiredness, and difficulty sleeping. Many of us also experience a drop in libido (sexual desire) which can continue well beyond menopause.
Unfortunately drinking alcohol at this stage of life causes more problems than it solves. For example, alcohol itself can trigger hot flashes and increase sleep disruptions. For those of us in midlife who are already experiencing hot flashes and sleep problems (because of the night sweats that accompany hot flashes), alcohol only compounds the problem.
Additionally, Jasmine Lew, a researcher at the Howard Hughes healing Institute, has found links in the middle of the whole of alcohol women consumed and a higher risk of cancer. In particular, Lew and her colleagues found that alcohol increased the risk for the most tasteless types of postmenopausal breast cancer. And the more we drank, the higher the risk, so, while drinking one serving of alcohol resulted in only a 7% increase of risk, drinking three servings of alcohol per day resulted in as high as 51% increase in risk.
Further problems occur in the area of bone density because alcohol increases the whole of calcium excreted in the urine, causing a calcium scantness and finally osteoporosis. And of course heavy drinking increases our risk of liver disease, falls, Duis, and motor vehicle accidents.
So what are we to do? Peri-menopause, menopause, and post menopause are clearly times of risk for those of us who find we are drinking too much. With that in mind, if you are over 40 you should reconsider hormonal shifts as a contributing factor in any turn in your alcohol use. It should also be a consideration if you become concerned about alcohol abuse and seek help. Look for a program that will address all of the potential contributory factors, not one that consigns you to a "disease" model as well an unnecessary and inappropriate "lifelong recovery."
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