Alcohol and Alcoholism Advance Access originally published online on January 31, 2007
Alcohol and Alcoholism 2007 42(2):80-83; doi:10.1093/alcalc/agl094
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MENSTRUAL CYCLE IN WOMEN ADDICTED TO ALCOHOL DURING THE FIRST WEEK FOLLOWING DRINKING CESSATION—CHANGES OF SEX HORMONES LEVELS IN RELATION TO SELECTED CLINICAL FEATURES
SKA1,*
KOWSKI2
-SYPNIEWSKA3PISKI4
1 Department of Pathobiochemistry and Clinical Chemistry, Nicolaus Copernicus University Bydgoszcz, Poland
2 Department of Psychiatry Nursing, Nicolaus Copernicus University Bydgoszcz, Poland
3 Department of Laboratory Medicine, Nicolaus Copernicus University Bydgoszcz, Poland
4 Department of Psychiatry, Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University Bydgoszcz, Poland
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed at: Department of Pathobiochemistry and Clinical Chemistry, Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University, 9 Curie-Skodowska Street, 85-094 Bydgoszcz, Poland E-mail: augustynska{at}op.pl
Received 23 January 2006; first review notified 11 April 2006; in revised form 31 October 2006; accepted 1 November 2006
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Abstract |
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Aims: To assess the prevalence of hormonal dysfunction in women addicted to alcohol during first week following drinking cessation; to determine whether fluctuations of hormone levels in follicular, ovulation and luteal phases in addicted women are equal to those normally found in healthy women; to determine the association between hormonal imbalances with selected clinical features. Methods: Biochemical parameters of liver function and hormone levels were assessed in 30 women treated for 30 days in a Short Term Therapy and Detoxification Ward. The following hormones were measured: prolactin (PROL), folliculotropin (FSH), luteotropin (LH), estradiol (ES) and testosterone (TEST)—(i) after menstruation, at follicular phase, between 5th and 7th day of the cycle; (ii) around ovulation, 11-14th day of the cycle; and (iii) before menstruation, at luteal phase, between 19th and 22th day of the cycle. Results: Mean PROL levels in all three cycle phases and progesterone level in follicular phase were above, while mean TEST level was below, the reference values. Over 50% of women had abnormally increased PROL values in all phases of the cycle while decreased values of PROG or LH were found in 
50% and >30% of study women. Conclusions: The menstrual cycle disturbances in alcoholic women are most prominent around the middle part of the cycle and age influences the pattern of hormonal changes.