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Women's Hormonal Stress System Is Less Reactive to High-Dose Alcohol, Potentially Contributing to Tolerance and Raising the Risk of Alcohol Use Disorder

Biological sex affects hormonal and involuntary nervous system responses to binge drinking, potentially influencing vulnerability to alcohol use disorder (AUD). That's according to a new laboratory study examining the role of biological sex in the endocrine stress response to high-dose alcohol. Women's alcohol use, traditionally lower than men's, has, by some measures, caught up. Heavy episodic (binge) drinking, for example, has climbed steadily among college women over recent decades. Biological sex is known to affect how alcohol is absorbed and metabolized, and physiological responses to certain medicinal and psychological stressors. The limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (LHPA) axis, which regulates endocrine stress responses, is activated by high doses of alcohol. It is not known, though, how rapid drinking in large quantities affects women compared to men. Potentially, sex differences in the endocrine stress response might contribute to varying health outcomes, including the de

August 1, 2025


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