XML Feed for RxPG News   Add RxPG News Headlines to My Yahoo!   Javascript Syndication for RxPG News

Research Health World General
 
  Home
 
 Latest Research
 Cancer
 Psychiatry
  Depression
  Neuropsychiatry
  Personality Disorders
  Bulimia
  Anxiety
  Substance Abuse
   Alcohol
   Smoking
   Amphetamine
   Opiates
   Cannabis
   Cocaine
  Suicide
  CFS
  Psychoses
  Child Psychiatry
  Learning-Disabilities
  Psychology
  Forensic Psychiatry
  Mood Disorders
  Sleep Disorders
  Peri-Natal Psychiatry
  Psychotherapy
  Anorexia Nervosa
 Genetics
 Surgery
 Aging
 Ophthalmology
 Gynaecology
 Neurosciences
 Pharmacology
 Cardiology
 Obstetrics
 Infectious Diseases
 Respiratory Medicine
 Pathology
 Endocrinology
 Immunology
 Nephrology
 Gastroenterology
 Biotechnology
 Radiology
 Dermatology
 Microbiology
 Haematology
 Dental
 ENT
 Environment
 Embryology
 Orthopedics
 Metabolism
 Anaethesia
 Paediatrics
 Public Health
 Urology
 Musculoskeletal
 Clinical Trials
 Physiology
 Biochemistry
 Cytology
 Traumatology
 Rheumatology
 
 Medical News
 Health
 Opinion
 Healthcare
 Professionals
 Launch
 Awards & Prizes
 
 Careers
 Medical
 Nursing
 Dental
 
 Special Topics
 Euthanasia
 Ethics
 Evolution
 Odd Medical News
 Feature
 
 World News
 Tsunami
 Epidemics
 Climate
 Business
 
 India
Search

Last Updated: Nov 18, 2006 - 12:32:53 PM
Research Article
Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research

Alcohol Channel
subscribe to Alcohol newsletter

Latest Research : Psychiatry : Substance Abuse : Alcohol

   DISCUSS   |   EMAIL   |   PRINT
Greater vulnerability of women's brains to alcohol
May 18, 2005 - 11:51:00 PM, Reviewed by: Dr.

"Not only is the prevalence of alcoholism somewhat higher in men than women, thus increasing the chances of recruiting men over women in research programs"

 
Women appear to be more vulnerable to chronic drinking than men are. Yet few studies have looked at gender differences in alcohol's effects on the brain. A study in the May issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research addresses this gap in research, using computed tomography (CT) to examine brain atrophy in the brains of alcoholic men and women. The findings support and build upon a prior hypothesis that women develop alcohol-related brain damage more readily than men.

"Studies using brain-imaging techniques are time-consuming and expensive," said Karl Mann, full professor in the department for addictive behavior and addiction medicine at the University of Heidelberg and first author of the study. "Women have generally not been considered in brain-imaging studies, or samples have not been large enough to differentiate between women and men. Conversely, male patients with alcohol dependence have historically been easier to recruit because the majority of alcoholic patients are male and the first evaluations of larger samples were carried out in soldiers. Furthermore, study results were thought to be generally applicable to both genders. Yet gender differences in the development, course and consequences of alcohol dependence have to be considered in early diagnosis as this probably will lead to different therapeutic strategies."

"Not only is the prevalence of alcoholism somewhat higher in men than women, thus increasing the chances of recruiting men over women in research programs," added Edith Sullivan, a professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine, "but some speculate that women, with household and motherly responsibilities, have greater difficulty in finding time to participate in studies."

"Telescoping" is a term that refers to the later onset and possibly accelerated negative effects that chronic alcohol consumption may have on the brain's structural and functional systems in women.

"Epidemiological studies have demonstrated gender differences in alcohol-consumption behavior and the course of alcohol dependence," said Mann. "Women typically start to drink later in life, consume less per occasion and are, in general, less likely to develop alcohol dependence. One could reason that women are less affected by alcohol. But there is, in fact, evidence for a faster progression of the developmental events leading to dependence among female alcoholics and an earlier onset of adverse consequences of alcoholism. This suggests that women may be more vulnerable to chronic alcohol consumption."

For this study, researchers examined 158 subjects: 76 women (42 patients, 34 healthy "controls"), and 82 age-matched men (34 patients, 48 healthy "controls"). All of the alcoholics were recruited from a six-week inpatient treatment program, and met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fourth Edition and International Classification of Diseases 10 criteria for alcohol dependence. Control subjects were recruited by advertisement. CT scans were performed twice among the patients � at the beginning and end of their six-week program � and once among the controls.

Results confirm gender-specific differences in the onset of alcohol dependence.

"We were able to confirm the telescoping course of alcohol dependence in women," said Mann, "meaning faster progression of the developmental events leading to dependence among female alcoholics and an earlier onset of adverse consequences."

Results also show that brain atrophy seems to develop faster in women.

"We confirmed greater brain atrophy in alcoholic women and men compared to healthy controls," said Mann. "Furthermore, the women developed equal brain-volume reductions as the men after a significantly shorter period of alcohol dependence than the men. These results corroborate previous studies that have found other gender-related consequences of alcohol, such as cognitive deficits, alcoholic cardiomyopathy, myopathy of skeletal muscle, and alcoholic liver disease - all of which occur earlier in women than in men despite a significantly shorter exposure to alcohol."

"The higher depression index in alcoholic women than men was also of interest," added Sullivan, "and may actually serve as a useful trigger to family members that 'something is wrong' with the affected individual.

The good news is that abstinence seems to partially reverse the brain atrophy, for both genders.

"Because of the 'telescoping' effect," said Mann, "early diagnosis and early prevention are even more important for women with alcohol problems than for men. Despite the fact that men, in general, drink more alcohol and are more likely to develop alcohol dependence, it is those women who consume alcohol who probably develop alcohol dependence and adverse consequences more readily than men."
 

- Stanford University School of Medicine
 

www.alcoholism-cer.com

 
Subscribe to Alcohol Newsletter
E-mail Address:

 

Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research (ACER) is the official journal of the Research Society on Alcoholism and the International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism. Co-authors of the ACER paper, "Neuroimaging of gender differences in alcoholism: Are women more vulnerable?," were: Klaus Ackermann, Bernhard Croissant, Helmut Nakovics, and Alexander Diehl of the Central Institute of Mental Health at the University of Heidelberg; and Goetz Mundle of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the University of Tuebingen. The study was supported by the German Ministry of Education and Research.

Related Alcohol News

DNA highly-promising predictor for successful treatment of alcoholics
Nicotine may actually reduce blood alcohol concentrations
Alcoholics' deficits in smell are linked to frontal lobe dysfunction
Asp carriers of the OPRM1 gene taking naltrexone have increased urge to drink
Early Drinking Linked to Risk of Alcohol Dependence
Inattentional blindness more likely under influence of alcohol
Moderate alcohol intake associated with better mental function
Medical management with naltrexone or behavioral therapy can effectively treat alcohol dependence
Underage drinkers account for about 17 percent of consumer expenditures for alcohol
Alcohol could make you more depressed: study


For any corrections of factual information, to contact the editors or to send any medical news or health news press releases, use feedback form

Top of Page

 

© Copyright 2004 onwards by RxPG Medical Solutions Private Limited
Contact Us