Latest news
FR | ENG
Logo Women’s Cardiovascular Healthcare Foundation
Women’s Cardiovascular Healthcare Foundation
Logo ACF
Media Newsroom
logofg

ACTUALITE

Why does medicine treat women like men?

This is the question posed by Dr. Alyson McGregor, Division Director for the first program in Sex and Gender Emergency Medicine at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University in Rhode Island, in her recently-published book Sex Matters.

placeholder image

For Dr. McGregor, the male-centric medical model is so widespread in our health systems and our procedures that we don’t even realize it exists. She offers an informative and prescriptive guide for women to explore the specificities of their bodies and the preventive actions they can take to reduce their risks. Plus, she reminds us that sex must be integrated as a biological variable in research programs. When it comes to cardiovascular disease in our patients, we see evidence on a daily basis that women’s symptoms don’t always correspond with men’s. For example, in men, plaque tends to accumulate in a few places, causing blood vessels to rupture. For women, plaque is more likely build up uniformly around the inside of the vessel, making them more rigid and less flexible over time. Rather than rupturing, the vessels erode. This requires different methods of diagnosis and treatment.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/may/24/why-does-medicine-treat-women-like-men

 

SEE ALSO

placeholder

How to Address High Blood Pressure in Menopause with Effective Gynecardiology Cooperation

During menopause, blood pressure frequently increases. In a study of more than 5,000 women, hot flashes were associated with higher levels of cholesterol, a higher body mass index (relationship of weight and height2) and blood pressure (Gast GC et al. Hypertension 2008). Findings from the 2018 Esteban [...]

READ MORE

placeholder

Why this Doctor is Sounding the Red Alert for Women’s Hearts

Media

Just three years ago, France 5 broadcast a health investigation on women’s hearts. During the program, Prof. Claire Mounier-Vehier, MD, sounded the alarm: women are on the front lines of cardiovascular events and they don’t even know it. This show has already helped save many lives, raising [...]

READ MORE

placeholder

Are medications sexist?

Erving Zucker and his colleagues at University of California Berkeley conducted research in more than 5,000 publications and focused on 86 medications on the U.S. market administered to men and women. At equivalent doses, 76 of them had a higher concentration in women’s blood than in men’s blood, [...]

READ MORE

 Your gift improves
prevention for women at key moments in their lives

DONATE