FRIDAY, Aug. 31 (HealthDay News) -- Long-term alcohol abuse affects men differently than women, according to a new study of recovering alcoholics that found white matter in women's brains recovers faster than it does in men.

Over time, alcoholism results in the loss of white matter, which is brain tissue that facilitates communication among different areas of the brain. Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine and the VA Boston Healthcare System found alcoholic women who stop drinking can regain their white matter faster than men who get sober.

"We believe that many of the cognitive and emotional deficits observed in people with chronic alcoholism, including memory problems and flat affect, are related to disconnections that result from a loss of white matter," said the study's leader, Susan Mosher Ruiz, a postdoctoral research scientist in the neuropsychology laboratory at Boston University School of Medicine.

The researchers examined brain scans of 42 formerly alcoholic men and women who drank heavily for more than five years, and compared them to scans from 42 nonalcoholics. The scans revealed those who drank longer had smaller white matter volume. The researchers noted the decrease in white matter among the men was observed in the corpus callosum, while the effect was observed in the women's cortical white matter regions.

The study also found that the number of daily drinks had a strong impact on alcoholic women. The researchers noted the white matter volume loss was 1.5 percent to 2 percent for each additional daily drink. They also found an 8 percent to 10 percent increase in the size of the brain ventricles, which play a protective role in the brain. As white matter dies, cerebrospinal fluid fills the space in the ventricles.

In assessing the recovery of the men's white matter, the researchers found the corpus callosum recovered at a rate of 1 percent per year for each year of abstinence from alcohol.

For those who had stopped drinking within the previous year, white matter volume increased and ventricular volume decreased in women, but not in men. After more than a year in recovery, however, those signs disappeared in women and became apparent in men.

"These findings preliminarily suggest that restoration and recovery of the brain's white matter among alcoholics occurs later in abstinence for men than for women," Mosher Ruiz said in a Boston Medical Center news release.

"We hope that additional research in this area can help lead to improved treatment methods that include educating both alcoholic men and women about the harmful effects of excessive drinking and the potential for recovery with sustained abstinence," she added.

The study was published online recently in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

More information

The U.S. National Institutes of Health provides more information on alcoholism and alcohol abuse.

MONDAY, Aug. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Women who are overweight or obese when diagnosed with the most common form of breast cancer have a higher risk of recurrence than slimmer patients, according to a new analysis.

"Patients who are obese are significantly more likely to have a breast cancer recurrence despite optimal therapy," said study leader Dr. Joseph Sparano, associate chairman of oncology at Montefiore Medical Center, in New York City.

These overweight and obese women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer -- which accounts for two-thirds of all cases worldwide -- are also at greater risk of dying compared to normal-weight women, he found.

The comparison found the obese women had "about a 30 percent increased risk of recurrence and 50 percent increased risk of death," Sparano said.

Hormone receptor-positive breast cancer requires estrogen to grow, and Sparano speculated that one possibility for the link might be increased production of estrogen in heavier women.

While the new study findings, published online Aug. 27 in the journal Cancer, echo some earlier research, there are important differences, Sparano said.

Other studies have been complicated by the fact that obese patients often have additional health problems, which may have prevented them from getting appropriate therapy, Sparano said.

In the new analysis, he looked at a relatively healthy patients, 6,885 women in all, enrolled in U.S. National Cancer Institute clinical trials with stage 1 to 3 breast cancer (cancers that had not spread to distant sites). They could not participate if they had serious health problems, such as liver, heart or lung disease.

The percentage considered obese (body mass index of 30 or higher) ranged from 25 to 37 percent in the three studies evaluated. Body mass index (BMI) is a calculation of fat content based on height and weight.

As BMI rose, the risk of recurrence or death increased incrementally. Being overweight but not obese also increased risk.

"Obesity is clearly associated with an increased risk, and even women who were not obese but overweight tend to have a high risk," Sparano said. However, he said he can't pinpoint a weight threshold at which the risk begins.

It's important to note that although a link between recurrence and excess weight was detected, the research does not show cause and effect.

Commenting on the study, Dr. Bette Caan, a senior research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Calif., said the researchers were able to address some of the shortcomings of previous studies.

"To me the big news is that it is showing obesity is only related to one subtype," Caan said. "It's the most common subtype.

"Breast cancer is not one disease but several diseases," she added.

What is not yet known, agreed Sparano and Caan, is whether reducing weight after cancer treatment might reduce the risk of recurrence or death.

Studies looking at the effect of reducing dietary fat on the risk of recurrence in obese women have come up with conflicting results. In one study, reduced fat didn't lead to weight loss or reduced recurrence.

More study is needed, these experts say. It might turn out that weight loss only plays a role in reducing recurrence risk for some women, Caan said.

More information

To learn about obesity and breast cancer, visit the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 29 (HealthDay News) -- A "happy" gene that affects females but not males may explain why women are often happier than men, research suggests.

In the new study, researchers analyzed data from 193 women and 152 men who were assessed for happiness and underwent DNA testing as part of a long-term study of mental health.

The team focused on the "monoamine oxidase A" (MAOA) gene, which regulates an enzyme that breaks down brain neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine, "feel-good" chemicals targeted by many antidepressants.

One version of the MAOA gene raises levels of monoamine, which allows larger amounts of these neurotransmitters to remain in the brain and boost mood.

The researchers found that women with the low-expression version of the MAOA gene were much happier than other women. Compared to women with no copies of the low-expression version, those with one copy scored higher on the happiness scale and those with two copies scored even higher.

A large number of men carried the low-expression version of the MAOA gene, but they were no happier than those without it, the investigators found.

The study was released online in advance of print publication in the journal Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry.

"This is the first happiness gene for women," lead author Dr. Henian Chen, an associate professor in the department of epidemiology and biostatistics in the College of Public Health, at University of South Florida, said in a university news release.

"I was surprised by the result, because low expression of MAOA has been related to some negative outcomes like alcoholism, aggressiveness and antisocial behavior. It's even called the warrior gene by some scientists, but, at least for women, our study points to a brighter side of this gene," Chen said.

Women have higher rates of mood and anxiety disorders, but tend to have greater overall life happiness than men, according to background information in the news release.

The reason for this is unclear but this "new finding may help us to explain the gender difference and provide more insight into the link between specific genes and human happiness," Chen said.

The reason for the gender difference found in this study may be partly due to the hormone testosterone, the study authors suggested. Men have much higher amounts of testosterone than women and the hormone may cancel out the happiness effect of the low-expression version of MAOA in men, the researchers said in the news release.

More information

Mental Health America offers tips to create joy and satisfaction  .

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Mental deterioration occurs more quickly in women with Alzheimer's disease than in men with the devastating brain illness, a new study finds.

British researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 15 published studies of Alzheimer's patients and found that men consistently and significantly performed better than women in five tests of mental skills, even when they're at the same stage of the disease.

The investigators were surprised to find that even the verbal skills of women with Alzheimer's were worse than in men with the disease. This is different than among healthy people, where women have a distinct advantage over men in verbal skills.

Age, education levels and dementia severity did not explain the difference in mental decline between women and men, the authors noted.

The study appeared Aug. 24 in the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology.

"Unlike mental decline associated with normal aging, something about Alzheimer's specifically disadvantages women," study leader Keith Laws, a psychology professor at the University of Hertfordshire, said in a university news release.

"There has been some previous, but limited, evidence that females with Alzheimer's deteriorate faster than males in the earlier stages of the disease. And possible explanations are for a hormonal influence, possibly due to estrogen loss in women or perhaps a greater cognitive reserve in males which provides protection against the disease process. But further studies to examine sex differences with the disease are needed to provide greater clarity on these issues," Laws said.

Women are more likely than men to develop Alzheimer's and that difference increases with age, according to background information in the news release.

More information

The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about Alzheimer's disease  .