- NEW YORK (Reuters
Health) - A testosterone surge in the brain could help explain the drunken
behavior of some men and women, if new animal research is any indication.
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- Researchers found that alcohol gave a quick jolt to testosterone
levels in the brains and blood of some male rats. They speculate that the
findings may be important for understanding the "behavioral changes"
that, for some people, go hand-in-hand with drinking.
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- "Marked increases in brain testosterone might be
relevant to aggressive behavior in some individuals," Dr. Robert H.
Purdy, the senior author of the new report, told Reuters Health. "You
need to keep in mind the word 'some,' however."
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- Clearly, people differ in how alcohol affects them, noted
Purdy, a scientist at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California.
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- He and his colleagues report their findings in the January
issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.
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- Alcohol's effects on testosterone have long been of interest,
in part because of the higher rate of alcoholism among men. In addition,
the associations between alcohol and violence, and between drinking and
male sexual dysfunction, suggest that testosterone effects are at work.
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- The testosterone boost the new study found is in contrast
to several past studies of animals and men in which intoxicating amounts
of alcohol lowered blood levels of the male hormone. On the other hand,
a recent study of postmenopausal women showed that alcohol sent up blood
levels of testosterone, the researchers note.
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- In general, though, alcohol has been tied to dips in
circulating testosterone and impaired reproductive function.
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- Still, it's possible that drinking gives testosterone
levels a short-lived boost in some people, according to Dr. Dennis D. Rasmussen,
a researcher at the University of Washington in Seattle who was not involved
in the study.
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- "This study raises the possibility that episodes
of alcohol consumption may...at least temporarily increase testosterone
levels," Rasmussen said in a statement. Whether it does so, he noted,
likely depends on a number of factors, including the amount of alcohol
and the drinker's "personal characteristics."
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- So for some people, Rasmussen said, drinking may spur
a testosterone surge that could lead to aggression or a revved-up libido--two
behaviors famously associated with both drinking and testosterone.
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- He added, however, that the role of such testosterone
changes in alcohol-related exploits--and whether the effect is different
in men and women--is still not clear.
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- Why and how alcohol could both lower and raise testosterone
levels is currently being investigated, Purdy said.
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- SOURCE: Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research
2003;27:38-43.
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