According to Biology News Net, there have been further studies into the debate over whether or not men are more susceptible to alcoholism than women are. Scientists have always suspected that men were more likely to form a habit out of heavy drinking, but this new study found that there is now biological evidence to support this idea.
There were researchers from Yale and Columbia who studied college-age men and women after they had a few drinks. After one had either an alcoholic or nonalcoholic drink, they were then given a PET scan, which can measure the release of alcohol related dopamine. Dopamine has a number of functions, but the most important in this context is how it gives pleasurable feelings after rewarding experiences, such as sex, drinking, or doing drugs. After the PET scans were examined, it was clear that men had a greater dopamine release in the part of the brain that controls addiction formation. Since men had more dopamine after drinking, the study leads researchers to believe that men do in fact drink more often, and more heavily, than women do.
In my opinion, I think that both men and women in college are likely to drink a little too often, or a little too much. Although, whether or not the social drinking will turn into a kind of addiction as time goes on is hard to tell. The biological evidence behind the idea of men being more likely to develop alcoholism is very convincing, and I have heard of more older men being alcoholics then women. The article I read on this subject was very easy to understand, and really made me stop and wonder.
There were researchers from Yale and Columbia who studied college-age men and women after they had a few drinks. After one had either an alcoholic or nonalcoholic drink, they were then given a PET scan, which can measure the release of alcohol related dopamine. Dopamine has a number of functions, but the most important in this context is how it gives pleasurable feelings after rewarding experiences, such as sex, drinking, or doing drugs. After the PET scans were examined, it was clear that men had a greater dopamine release in the part of the brain that controls addiction formation. Since men had more dopamine after drinking, the study leads researchers to believe that men do in fact drink more often, and more heavily, than women do.
In my opinion, I think that both men and women in college are likely to drink a little too often, or a little too much. Although, whether or not the social drinking will turn into a kind of addiction as time goes on is hard to tell. The biological evidence behind the idea of men being more likely to develop alcoholism is very convincing, and I have heard of more older men being alcoholics then women. The article I read on this subject was very easy to understand, and really made me stop and wonder.
That was an interesting article. The biological evidence was convincing. Older men may drink more due to added responsibilities such as having a wife and children. Finacial pressures could also lead an older man to drink more. I'm not making excuses for them, just giving additional reasons!
ReplyDeleteI like this article a lot. It makes sense on how it can become more addicting to men because of the alcohol-induced dopamine released. I do believe though that men and women can drink the same amount, but because of differences in our chemical releases, one is more likely to become more addicted to something than the other.
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