Not recognizing sex and gender differences can adversely affect patients
As a young medical doctor in academia in the early 1980s, most of my research was conducted in male rats. I was told that the estrus cycle in female rats would interfere with data interpretation. Investigators were reluctant to test medications in women of reproductive age, because of the concern about pregnancy. Older women were enrolled in clinical trials, but men and women’s imbalance favored men. Medical schools were teaching …
