Over the past decade research 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, health concerns, children leaving home - women can find themselves abusing alcohol for the first time in their lives.
In our teens, 20s and 30s, our ovaries and adrenal glands produce a form of estrogen called estrodiol. Later, during 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 better 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 various unfamiliar discomforts.
While normal menopause is a gradual process that starts between the ages of 45 and 55, there are a number of things that can lead to this whole process starting earlier than normal, in other words - premature menopause. Sometimes these are a result of lifestyle choices that include 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. chronic stress to the body - including excessive athletic training. Read more »
