Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/ogsYU-IDW14 Those feminine hormones that help to bestow the miracle of reproduction on women may ironically make them more susceptible to addiction.   The latest entry in a series of studies from Vanderbilt University’s pharmacology department shows that, when a female’s estrogen is peaking, she learns faster, craves adventure and novel experiences, is more likely to seek romance whether good or bad, and is more prone to seek rewards.  That makes her more likely to fall prey to addiction. The investigators had previously demonstrated that higher estrogen levels intensify the brain’s dopamine reward release following cocaine use.  These latest experiments employed a rat model to show that females, in the presence of a light trigger, were more motivated than males to do what it takes to repeatedly get a dose of cocaine.  Female hormones facilitate repeated drug ingestion. Those of us who applaud the #metoo movement see this type of information as a tool for liberating women from the re