(HealthDay News) -- Researchers are linking a stress hormone to alcoholism in animals, and they report that blocking it could become a strategy to help stop the addiction in people.
The research "represents an important step in understanding how the brain changes when it moves from a normal to an alcohol-dependent state," lead researcher Marisa Roberto, an associate professor at the Scripps Research Institute, said in a Scripps news release.
"Our study explored what we call in the field 'the dark side' of alcohol addiction," Roberto said. "That's the compulsion to drink, not because it is pleasurable -- which has been the focus of much previous research -- but because it relieves the anxiety generated by abstinence and the stressful effects of withdrawal."
The hormone, known as corticotropin-releasing factor, plays a role in the body's response to stress and is found in the brain.
Romero said it's possible that blocking the hormone "may prevent excessive alcohol consumption under a variety of behavioral and physiological conditions."
The researchers also found that rats exposed to the hormone-suppressing chemical didn't become immune to the chemical's effects over time. That suggests that people might be able to take it repeatedly without facing a loss of effectiveness. Read more...
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