Sex Matters addresses one of the most pressing but unspoken problems facing women's healthcare today: all models of medical research and practice are based on male-centred models that ignore the unique biological and emotional differences between men and women - a neglect that can endanger women's lives. The facts about the daily impact of male-centred medicine on women's health are frightening: women are more likely to receive a psychiatric diagnosis of opioid use in the emergency room, while men are more likely to be referred for detoxification; the more women talk about their pain, the more likely their doctors are to prescribe inappropriate pain medication; women often have atypical stroke symptoms, causing delays in recognition by both them and medical staff; and a government accountability study found that 80% of drugs withdrawn from the market are due to side effects that happen to women (as a result of drugs being tested mainly on men).Leading sexual and gender medicine expert Dr Alyson McGregor focuses on the key areas where these differences are most potentially harmful.
Topics covered in the book include:
- Diagnosis and treatment of heart disease and stroke in women
- Prescribing and dosing of pharmaceuticals
- Subjective assessment of female symptoms
- Treatment of pain
- Women's hormones and biochemistry
- How economic status, race and gender identity are additional critical factors