Sex Matters: How Male-Centric Medicine Endangers Women’s Health and What We Can Do About It

“The male-centric model of medicine is so pervasive in our health care systems, procedures, and philosophy that many don’t even realize it exists,” argues McGregor (emergency medicine, Brown Univ. Med. School), cofounder of the Sex and Gender Women’s Health Collaborative, in this widely researched, convincing look at how male-centric medicine came to be, how it works in practice, and how it jeopardizes the health of women in America and around the world. She considers specific disease patterns and areas, including heart attacks, strokes, pain disorders, pain management, and pharmaceuticals, as well as the role of women’s hormones and biochemistry, and how biases related to gender, race, ethnicity, and religion affect medical treatment and outcomes. Finally, she poses specific questions for women to ask providers to aid in their conversations.