Different Medicine for Him and Her
Men and women are often treated in the same way for their health problems, but research has shown that because we are not the same biologically, our treatment should be different when it comes to health problems, such as heart attacks etc. The reasons why we are physiologically different stems from evolution, men were the hunters so they developed a higher pain threshold. This is also because of their testosterone. Although, testosterone drops after the age of 30, so does their pain tolerance, but they still have a better pain threshold than women. In 2013, brain scan experiments involving both men and women found that women interpreted heat as pain. The study in The New England Journal of medicine also discovered that women experienced pain sooner and more intensely than their male counterparts.
Women also tend to feel pain more during their menstrual cycle due to hormonal changes. Ibuprofen is inclined to work more effectively in men, but for some health conditions it can be beneficial for women. It can help to decrease the production of their prostaglandins, which are the hormones that cause menstrual cramps. Women who have an increase of this hormone can suffer from debilitating period pains, vomiting and diarrhoea.
Most research is tested on men and male animals because women have periods and get pregnant, and this can cause problems with receiving an accurate reading for women. Therefore, worryingly, women are often given the wrong treatment for their ailments. Childbirth can also cause problems for women. In 2013, researchers wrote in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology that women who gave birth prematurely had a 50 percent higher chance of later getting heart disease. Gestational diabetes and gestational hypertension can also have an impact on a woman’s heart health.
However, when it comes to osteoporosis, more men are likely to die from hip fractures from it. A 2012 review in The Journal Annals of Oncology found that the reason for this could be because men are less likely to be diagnosed and referred for a treatment. Bone density is usually measured by doctors in patients aged 50 and over. Their bone density is compared to an average twenty something woman. But men in their 20’s have much denser hips than women of the same age, so the doctor’s measurements are inaccurate for the older man. This means that older men who have developed osteoporosis could go undetected because their bones are the same as a young woman’s.
In 2005, a Canadian study which involved 4,000 hip fracture patients found that the mortality rate among women was 5 percent, but it was 10 percent among men. These findings were recorded in The Journal of Bone and Mineral research. Even men and women’s saliva is different. A woman’s saliva changes throughout her menstrual cycle. Her kisses indicate to the man that she is ovulating. Whereas a man’s saliva signals his virility and increase the woman’s desire to have sex with him. Bearing this in mind why in this day and age are men and women still been given the same treatments for health problems when biologically we are so different?
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