Saturday, September 25, 2004

Stop the presses - Men and Women are Different!

Why is it that the scientists seem to be the last to know? Lots more here. If you need pictures, just talk to Dean and I'm sure he'll post something for you.

Well, yeah, there has been some recognition that men and women have different bodies and thus have different problems. But historically this has been what some have called "bikini medicine", as if all of the differences were localized.

But the linked article mentions a number of other things that differ, including interactions with hormone levels - apparently women's problems with inflamed bowels vary with their menstrual cycles, for instance.

Others I have to wonder about. For instance, it says that women are less likely than men to get oral cancer. Yeah, but they're also less likely to smoke or chew tobacco (thank God). You don't need hormones to explain that one. (And my inner Beavis has an alternate explanation for this one and also that periodic bowel thing. I won't hold my breath waiting for the research into such theories, although this research gives me hope.).

What surprised me the most was that heart attacks in women frequently do not involve chest pains and may involve more vague, flu-like symptoms. It'll be interesting to see how evolutionists and others explain this little asymmetry. I suspect it's because women are more likely to go to the doctor - they don't wait for the traditional crushing chest pain.

But hey, read it yourself (same link).

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