Lab study, 2004
Does very low-dose alcohol reduce anxiety differently after progesterone is removed?
Yes. Very low doses of alcohol (0.2-0.4 mg/kg) reduced anxiety by 60-70% after progesterone withdrawal, but higher doses (0.8-1.2 g/kg) did not work.
What they did
Researchers implanted progesterone capsules under the skin of female rats for 21 days, then removed them. After removal, they tested the rats' anxiety using two methods: measuring startle response and using a maze. They tested different doses of alcohol and compared results to control rats.
What they found
Low doses of alcohol (0.2-0.4 mg/kg) produced a 60-70% decrease in startle response in rats that had undergone progesterone withdrawal. Higher doses (0.8-1.2 g/kg) were ineffective in these same animals. Another drug, THIP, at 3 mg/kg produced a similar 70% reduction in startle response after progesterone withdrawal but not in control animals.
What it means for you
Very low alcohol doses might calm anxiety specifically after hormone withdrawal, not through general sedation. This could explain why some women report that alcohol affects their mood differently during the premenstrual phase. The main limits are that this is a rat study modeling one hormone state, and it does not tell us whether this happens in humans with PMS.
21 days
progesterone implant duration
0.2-0.4 mg/kg
low alcohol dose
60-70%
anxiety reduction at low dose
About the study
- Original title
- Effects of a low dose of ethanol in an animal model of premenstrual anxiety
- Authors
- Smith SS, Ruderman Y, Hua Gong Q et al.
- Journal
- Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.)
- Year
- 2004
- Study design
- Lab study
- What was tested
- Alcohol at different doses and the drug THIP
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/j.alcohol.2004.04.003
Topics
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