He continues, “the influence that sex and gender have on the diseases themselves, the medical treatments that can be used, and the way that treatment decisions are made for female and male patients are an important area of research that may lead to better understanding of the disease mechanisms and more appropriate therapeutic approaches with better long-term prognosis for patients of both sexes.”
Overall, knowledge of the differences between men and women is rapidly increasing. The sexes differ at many levels—from molecular, as genes, to societal, as habits and exposures. No single explanation is available for the large differences in sex ratios that characterize many autoimmune and rheumatic diseases. All causes—including genes, cells, organs, hormones, whole body, and the environment—remain possible.
Kurt Ullman is a freelance writer based in Indiana.
