Women more likely to binge drink when estrogen levels are higher, new study finds

‘Estrogen has such powerful effects on so many behaviours, particularly in females. So, it makes sense that it would also modulate drinking,’ report author says

Report author says a great deal less is known about ‘what drives alcohol drinking behaviour in females because most studies of alcohol use have been done in males’

Women are more likely to binge drink when they have higher levels of estrogen, new research has suggested.

The study, by scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, discovered women’s relationship to binge drinking is linked to their estrogen levels with the hormone causing them to consume large amounts of alcohol in their first half an hour of drinking.

Researchers, whose findings were published in the journal Natures Communications, found for what is believed to be the first time that estrogen contributes to men and women’s different approaches to binge drinking.

Dr Kristen Pleil, a senior author who is associate professor of pharmacology, said: “Estrogen has such powerful effects on so many behaviours, particularly in females. So, it makes sense that it would also modulate drinking.”

She explained a great deal less is known about “what drives alcohol drinking behaviour in females because most studies of alcohol use have been done in males”.

When a female takes her first sip from the bottle containing alcohol, those neurons go crazy

Dr Kristen Pleil

Researchers looked into hormone levels during the cycles of female mice before giving them alcohol - discovering that female mice drink much more when they have high levels of estrogen than on days when they have low estrogen.

It comes after a 2021 study by Dr Pleil and her team found neurons in a brain region named the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) were more excitable in female mice than in their male counterparts - with this directly linked to their binge drinking.

“When a female takes her first sip from the bottle containing alcohol, those neurons go crazy,” Dr Pleil said. “And if she's in a high-estrogen state, they go even crazier.” 

Researchers said the study could open up new ways of treating alcoholism as controlling estrogen could curb alcohol consumption when hormone levels rise.

It comes after research from last year revealed British women top the list as the biggest female binge drinkers in the world.

The research from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) suggested that 26 per cent of British women were consuming at least six drinks once a month - with this matched only by Denmark.

Previous research revealed British women top the list as the biggest female binge drinkers in the world (AFP/Getty)

Meanwhile, The Independent revealed the number of women dying from alcohol-related diseases has soared in recent years, with experts blaming the rise on brands deliberately targeting their marketing at women.

The data revealed that the number of women who lost their lives in this way in the UK increased by 37 per cent in five years – surging from 2,399 to 3,293 between 2016 and 2021 and marking the highest level since records began.

Debbie Shawcross, a professor of hepatology and chronic liver failure at King’s College London’s Institute of Liver Studies, told The Independent that liver disease is a particular problem in female patients.

“Women tend to present with more severe liver disease, particularly alcohol-related hepatitis, and do so after a shorter period of excessive drinking and at a lower daily alcohol intake than men,” she said. “This can be accounted for by differences in body size and composition – less muscle mass.”