ABSTRACT
That women and men have different lifespans, different patterns of illness, that they differ in metabolism and in disease processes, and that they respond differently to therapies was highlighted in the landmark 2001 Institute of Medicine report ‘Exploring the Biological Contribution to Human Health. Does Sex Matter?’1 The report posited that the ascertainment of sex-based differences in disease components, patho-genesis, diagnostic modalities, preventive approaches, and therapeutic interventions is pivotal for clinicians to appreciate how women and men react differently to diseases and to drugs. The report recommended the analysis and presentation of sex-based differences in clinical research and further urged that journal editors encourage researchers to report the results of sex-specific analyses. Examples offered include that women have a greater risk of developing life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias with a variety of potassium channel blocking drugs; and that women recover language ability more rapidly than men after a left hemisphere stroke. The report further advocated that clinicians incorporate these sex-based differences in responses in preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic strategies.
