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Sex differences in medicine

Sex differences in medicine (editing plan)

Sex differences in medicine include sex-specific diseases or conditions which occur due to differences between males and females genetically and biologically, causing people with genotypes XX (females) and XY (males) to experience different health issues more commonly than those of another sex (for example, prostate cancer in males or uterine cancer in females);[A] diseases which occur at similar rates in males and females but manifest differently according to sex (for example, peripheral artery disease);^[2] and medications that are sex-specific (for example, PrEP, mainly for males and their sexual partners). [B] Sex differences in medicine should not be confused with gender differences. The Institute of Medicine recognizes sex differences as biological at the chromosomal level (males and females), whereas gender differences are based on self-representation and other factors including biology, environment and experience (men and women).^[3] Sex differences in medicine should also not be confused with sexually transmitted diseases, which are diseases that have a significant probability of transmission through sexual contact.

Historically, medical research has used the male body as a standard for most, if not all trials, observation, and reference possibly due to differences in cultural gender roles that are typically assumed to be just as natural and biological as one’s sex. The results and conclusions have often been assumed to be the same for all sexes, and medical professionals proceed with this in mind which can hurt or be unhelpful to those who are not a “standard” body. This can lead to inadequate diagnoses, unequal progress in medicine between males and females, and creates holes in our historical knowledge of medicine [N].

**It is important to note that while some of the following do affect males or females more often than the other, there is still a significant amount of these illnesses that can affect the less likely sex even though it is more rare.**

Sex-related illnesses have various causes:

·      Sex-linked genetic illnesses

·      Parts of the reproductive system that are specific to one sex

·      Social causes that relate to the gender role expected of that sex in a particular society.

·      Different levels of prevention, reporting, diagnosis or treatment in each gender.

Contents

  [hide] 

·       1 Sex-specific diseases or conditions

·       2 Diseases or conditions which occur at similar rates in the sexes, but manifest differently

·       3 Diseases of conditions which occur at different rates and / or present different signs symptoms

·       4 Diseases or conditions which occur at similar rates, except in mortality

·       5 Medications that are currently sex-specific

·       6 See also

·       7 References

Sex-specific diseases or conditions

Examples of those in female humans:

·      Breast cancer affects females significantly more often than it does males, but while 43,900 females died due to breast cancer in 1997, so did 290 males according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information [C].

·      Ovarian cancer represents 4 out of 100 of all cancers that occur in females [C].

·      Rett syndrome (link?) (RTT) occurs in females almost exclusively because zygotes who have the XY chomosome inherit this disease normally miscarry, although some males may develop similar symptoms due to some sort of genetic change involving the chromosome whose mutation causes Rett [D][E]. (source?)

·      Endometriosis occurs in about 10% of the female population which commonly causes pain in or near the pelvic region, that is different from regular menstrual cramps, and also can cause infertility, but about 25% of cases have been asymptomatic [K]. Endometriosis can also affect males due to some remnants of uterine tissues developed as a fetus that can become inflamed after the person begins to go through puberty [L]. (source?)

·      Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in females, a third of all females around the world and half of all females 50 years or older in “underdeveloped” countries. While mortality rates for men (and diagnosed more frequently in men) are significantly even higher than for females, females tend to be admitted for longer periods of time [N]. (source?)

Examples of those in male humans:

• Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in males in the United States, and the second-leading cause of cancer-caused deaths in males [F][G]. (source?)
• The sex-determining gene of the Y chromosome (SRY gene) normally determines the sex of a male and assists in development of a males’ reproductive system, sexual organs, and suppresses the development of female reproductive organs [H][I]. (source?)
• Alport Syndrome affects the kidneys of males more commonly and more severely than females due to females having the second X chromosome while males only have the one [J]. (source?)
• Diseases of X-linked recessive inheritance, such as colour blindness, occur more frequently in men.
• Abdominal aortic aneurysms are six times more common in men, and thus some countries have introduced screening for males at risk of suffering the condition.^[6]
• Autism is approximately 4 times more prevalent in males than females.^[7]
• Psychologists are more likely to diagnose men than women with antisocial personality disorder and substance-abuse disorders. (source?)
• Hemophilia occurs more often and most obviously in males than in females, but when females do have hemophilia, it is a rare form and some males are born with the condition without mothers who could have passed on the gene, those cases are results of genetic mutations [M]. (source?)

See also

·      Andrology

·      Health disparities

·      Healthcare inequality

·      Medicine

·      Men's health

·      Obstetrics and gynecology

·      Reproductive medicine

·      Sex differences in humans

·      Women's health