gender-based illness

gender-based illness

Vive la difference? Any condition that affects one sex more than the other and/or at an earlier age. See Female-based medicine.

Gender differences in disease & health

Autoimmune disease ↑ in ♀, eg fibromyalgia, SLE, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis

♀ advantages ↑ Igs, ergo ↑ resistance to viral infections; ♀ regain from anesthesia faster; ♀ develop CAD ±10 years later

♂ advantages ↑ Bone mass at peak maturity; ↓ susceptible to tobacco exposure, TMJ syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, interstitial cystitis, and UTIs

Others Organ transplants are more successful in same-gender donation; there are ♂:♀ differences in drug metabolism; ♀ have faster heart rates and may have higher LDL-C (AMN 15/4/96, p16)  

McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.