Gender difference

brief review

Yin Wang

College of Science, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, China

Abstract

Background: There is a trend of substance abuse which has been spreading all over the world and thus it is becoming more and more harmful to human health. In order to halt this tendency, a tremendous amount of resources are utilized and which has achieved some results both in prevention and intervention effects. However, academic researchers’ eyes are not focusing on the issue of gender-related differences in drug intake and preclinical or clinical treatment. Methods: All of the survey or test are cited or collected form original or review papers.

Results: Gender differences are objectively existed in human’s behavior which are based on all phases of drug abuse (initiation, escalation of use, addiction and relapse after abstinence) and distributed in all periods of age, all ethnic groups and many renowned drugs.

Conclusion: Through analyzing and reviewing some articles which are concerned about human’s gender-caused diversities in field of substance abuse, some prevention and treatment projects can be planned on the consideration of such differences and hence comfort and release our suffering fellowmen.

Keywords: Gender difference: Substance abuse

1. Introduction

It is a widely accepted concept that man and woman are different both physically and psychologically. Drug abuse is becoming a rising problem in this day and time. A large amount of experiments and hypothesis have been conducted or given already, and also numerous results have been presented yet or not. But few are trying to mix researches on gender differences with those on drug abuse models. Most of current researchers are just take male’s behavior and response for the norm model of both genders’.

1.1. What is “substance abuse” and addiction

We humans are vulnerable to diseases, and in order to relieve us from pains and weakness, drugs

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which are obtained from chemical or herbal or animal or even mineral origins will be applied to alleviate our misery and keep us healthy. Physical pains can be killed by “painkillers”, and mental discomfort can be comforted by some mental drugs such as ecstasy or even alcohol or tobacco can ease our brain. Employing these drugs once in a while is not a serious action, but when you get addicted, the nightmare is begun. Drug addiction can simply be defined as a \"chronic relapsing disorder characterized by persistent drug-seeking and drug-taking behaviors\". And the main feature of substance abuse is repeated overdose intake a certain drug. Herein, substances which are abused not only including drugs but also concerning about other addiction-related

1.2. What is gender difference

Universally, gender differences are being around us no matter whether we recognize or not. In mass media’s publicities, the social status of both sexes are becoming more and more equally or in another word, that is to say, even “similarly”. So as women yelling and dashing out of kitchen and baby room and struggling for their rights and trying to prove them as same as men, few researchers dare to point out that women are in fact different from men. Fortunately, more and more scientists and students are waking from the dream that “woman and man are the same”, they realize that the concept of “gender difference” is not a taboo but an objective truth. To accept this idea will benefit us rather than discriminate us.

2. Methods

From articles and reviews which are published in academic magazines, information are collected and analyzed here to give some references so that decision makers maybe benefit from them.

2.1. Ethnic and gender differences in drinking, smoking and drug taking among adolescents in England

To estimate the adolescents’ tendency in these behaviors, the author employed anonymous self-report surveys and all the samples were distributed in 41 schools’ 6020 pupils who are 15 or 16 years old in England.

2.2. Evidence for a closing gender gap in alcohol use, abuse, and dependence in the United States population

Face-to-face surveys were carried out in the 2001-2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Condition. The age range in this survey was under 90 and age subgroups were divided into 4 by the interviewees’ birth year, they were 1913-1932, 1933-1949, 1950-1967 and 1968-1984. And the content concerned about lifetime largest drinks, frequent binge drinking,

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DSM-IV defined alcohol abuse, and alcohol dependence. Measure standard were under Alcohol Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities Interview Schedule, which can be called as AUDADS-IV for short.

2.3. Sex differences in brain dopamine release and methamphetamine use/response in adults

The change of brain striatal dopamine release can be regarded as a sign of methamphetamine’s response. The track of dopamine release was under positron emission tomography (PET) combined with high-specific-activity (11C) raclopride, a tissue approach also conducted as reference. The abuse and response of methamphetamine were from English-language articles, the collection came from MEDLINE searching. Search terms were all kinds of combination of man/male, women/female, methamphetamine, and gender/sex differences, and publish time was limited to 1966-2007.Animal’s test or hypothesis was excluded.

3. Results

3.1. Ethnic and gender differences in drinking, smoking and drug taking among adolescents in England

Ethnic All All All Asian & Black & Other Asian All Black Asian Asian Asian Male/female Male Female Male Male & Female Female Male & Female Male Female Female Male More/less likely reported More More More Less Less More More More Less More Substance abuse Drinking and Drug taking Smoking Heavy smoker Drinking Smoking Cannabis Cannabis Opiates Cannabis Ecstasy Compared with White White White White White White 3 / 5

3.2. Evidence for a closing gender gap in alcohol use, abuse, and dependence in the United States population

Men were used to be considered as more likely to drink and dependent on alcohol compared with women, but now this gender gap is decreasing monotonous with the subgroups’ birth year, i.e. the young female are becoming more and more alcohol dependent and behaving much more like male rather than their predecessor. This phenomenon may be attributed to postwar baby boom and thus more women are working outside their home.

3.3. Sex differences in brain dopamine release and methamphetamine use/response in adults

Men/Women Men Men Women Women Women Men Women Women Women More/Less likely More More More More More More More More Less To… Release greater dopamine Have greater ratings of the positive effects of amphetamine Begin use Methamphetamine(MA) at earlier ages Dependent on MA Have better treatment effect Use other drug in the absence of MA Volumes within the corpus callosum(in brain) Have genetic alterations Have MA-induced toxicity 3.4. Other differences in drug abuse

Female’s doses of such legal or illegal drugs are lower than male’s but at the same time females are more easily addicted to ecstasy or some other mental drugs and facing high-risk of withdrawal relapse.

4. Conclusions

Through these descriptions and comparisons above, we can clearly see the difference between male and female when both genders facing up to a same drug intake issues. So it is an urgent problem which needs to be solved immediately that some plan designers should take gender difference in consideration, and such plans including prevention and intervention of substance abuse.

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References

[1]Rodham, Karen, Keith Hawton, Emma Evans, and Rosamund Weatherall. ”Ethnic and gender differences in drinking, smoking and drug taking among adolescents in England: a self-report school-based survey of 15 and 16 year olds.” Journal of Adolescence 28 (2005): 63-73. [2]Keyes, Katherine M., Bridget F. Grant, and Deborah S. Hasin. “Evidence for a closing gender gap in alcohol use, abuse, and dependence in the United States population.” Drug and alcohol Dependence 93 (2008): 21-29. [3]Dluzen, Dean E., and Bin Liu. “Gender differences in methamphetamine use and responses: a reiew.” Gender Medicine 5.1 (2008): 24-33. [4]Munro, Cynthia A., Mary E. McCaul, Dean F. Wong, Lynn M. Oswald, Yun Zhou, James Brasic, Hiroto Kuwabara, Anil Kumar, Mohab Alexander, Weiguo Ye, and Gary S. Wand. “Sex differences in striatal dopamine release in healthy adults.” Biological Psychiatry 59 (2006): 966-74. [5]Becker, Jill B., Ming Hu. “Sex differences in drug abuse.” Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology 29 (2008): 36-48.

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