William Leith

His and her healthcare

Marek Glezerman discovers that cancer and heart attacks, among many other conditions, affect the sexes in different ways, and so require different medical care

issue 15 October 2016

When I started this book, I have to admit, I did not think it would be as absolutely fascinating as it turned out to be. It’s by a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology, and it’s about the medical differences between men and women. There are lots of medical differences between men and women — something doctors in general should bear in mind during treatment. But they don’t, says Dr Glezerman — or, at least, not enough.

This is all in the realm of the fairly interesting. Men and women are hormonally different from each other, they store fat differently, their brains are not quite the same, they respond to heat and cold in slightly different ways, they are affected by anxiety and depression and cancer and heart disease in different ways, their immune systems are not exactly the same, their muscle mass is different. Women are born with a finite number of eggs.

Comments

Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.

Already a subscriber? Log in