Gender Medicine

Over millions of years, male and female bodies developed crucial physiological differences to improve the chances for human survival. These differences have become culturally obsolete with the overturning of traditional gender roles. But they are nevertheless very real, and they go well beyond the obvious sexual and reproductive variances: men and women differ in terms of digestion, which affects the way medications are absorbed. Sensitivity to pain is dependent on gender. Even the symptoms of a heart attack manifest differently in a man than in a woman. And yet the medical establishment largely treats male and female patients as though their needs are identical. In fact, medical research is still done predominately on men, and the results are then applied to the treatment of women. This is clearly problematic and calls for a paradigm change—such a paradigm change is the purpose of Gender Medicine.

An exploration of how to bring medicine into the twenty-first century with our understanding of gender and sex differences. Over millions of years, male and female bodies developed crucial physiological differences to improve the chances for human survival. These differences have become culturally obsolete with the overturning of traditional gender roles. But they are nevertheless very real, and they go well beyond the obvious sexual and reproductive variances: men and women differ in terms of digestion, which affects the way medications are absorbed. Sensitivity to pain is dependent on gender. Even the symptoms of a heart attack manifest differently in a man than in a woman. And yet the medical establishment largely treats male and female patients as though their needs are identical. In fact, medical research is still done predominately on men, and the results are then applied to the treatment of women. This is clearly problematic and calls for a paradigm change—such a paradigm change is the purpose of Gender Medicine. Praise for Gender Medicine “Gender Medicine is cutting edge in that the author challenges the historical and antiquated paradigms that women and men are interchangeable with respect to their physiology, pharmacology and pathophysiology excluding their reproductive organs. There is a shocking paucity of resource material showcasing the most current and complete evidence on sex and gender-based medicine. Marek Glezerman’s book is a comprehensive and pleasurable read; it will enlighten both medical and nonmedical audiences and is highly applicable to the effective clinical practice of medicine in the twenty-first century.” —Alyson J. McGregor M.D., MA, FACEP, Director, Division of Sex and Gender in Emergency Medicine (SGEM), Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown Universit “This fascinating work will teach readers a great deal about sex, gender, and the human body. A must-read for health-care practitioners and anyone interested in medicine.” —Library Journal, starred review