Why Is Sex/Gender-Specific Medicine Important?

Sex/gender-specific medicine investigates the differences between men and women in relation to disease diagnosis and treatment. These differences result from (sex-based) biological and (gender-based) socioeconomic and cultural environments. Sex refers to the biological attributes that distinguish male, female, and/or intersex according to functions that derive from the chromosomal complement, reproductive organs, or specific hormones or environmental factors that affect the expression of phenotypic traits in sexually reproducing organisms. Gender refers to sociocultural norms, identities, and relations that shape human attitudes, behaviors, and health. Both sex and gender intersect with other social categories, such as age, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, and ethnicity. Taking sex and gender into account is important in relation to the future of personalized medicine. In addition, recently, physicians need to pay more attention to non-binary people and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning (LGBTQ+) individuals who experience higher rates of health disparities. This chapter tries to introduce research details across several medical specialties to highlight how sex and/or gender or non-binary influence the course of diseases and how these factors should be taken into consideration in diagnoses and therapies of diseases.