Let’s celebrate men today

Let's address the gender gap in medical research and practice on International Women's Day that most people use for branding opportunities instead of amplifying the voices of half of humanity, Women.

As Caroline Criado Perez wrote:
“The bodies, symptoms, and diseases that affect half the world's population are still being dismissed, disbelieved, and ignored.”

Gender gap in medical research

There's been a longstanding assumption in medicine that studying male bodies is sufficient to understand all of humanity. This has led to a significant gap in historical data regarding female bodies.

Unfortunately, this gap is persisting and even expanding because researchers continue to neglect the crucial ethical obligation to include female cells (both animals and humans) in their studies.

Do you realize that:

• Many researchers still default to using male mice in their investigations because they believe they are more predictable than female mice due to the hormone cycle. Guess what? Female mice exhibit less overall variance.
• Most clinical studies have less than 30% of women in their population. Why are their conclusions supposed to apply to women too? We are so underrepresented.

This stems from the belief, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, that men are the standard humans. They are not. Men are just men.

Data from studies conducted primarily on men does not, cannot, and should never, apply to women.

The fact that this issue persists into the 21st century is truly scandalous.

Men and women have distinct immune systems and hormonal profiles, impacting how the body absorbs chemicals. Women's smaller, thinner skin lowers their safe exposure threshold to toxins, and their higher body fat percentage increases the risk of chemical accumulation in adipose tissue. Importantly, sex differences have been found in the prevalence and severity of the majority of common human diseases.

Gender gap in medical practice

Symptoms and manifestations of diseases can differ between women and men.

Indeed, as a cardiologist, I often encounter women experiencing heart attacks who don’t exhibit the classic Hollywood signs such as widespread left chest and arm pain.

Instead, they present symptoms such as stomach, jaw, or throat pain, shortness of breath, nausea, and/or fatigue. This contributes to a higher likelihood of misdiagnosis.

Women are 50% more likely than men to be given a wrong diagnosis after a heart attack.

It's concerning to note the frequency with which women present at the emergency room with heart attacks and symptoms such as throat or stomach pain, only to be dismissed as 'hysteria’.

Recognizing and addressing these gender-specific differences is essential for providing accurate and effective healthcare for both men and women.

We urgently need a revolution in medical research and practice, and we need it yesterday.

Laura