Prioritizing Sex-Based Research in Heart Disease and Alzheimer ’s Disease

This blog was originally published by The Huffington Post on 11/30.
Co-authored by Jill Lesser, President of WomenAgainstAlzheimer’s and British Robinson, Chief Executive Officer of the Women’s Heart Alliance.

What if we could access knowledge that would transform modern medicine, enabling better disease prevention, better clinical decision-making, better therapeutics and better health outcomes for all Americans?
We don’t have to imagine. The answer lies in making medical research truly inclusive—in part, by filling the widespread gender, racial, and ethnic gaps in clinical trials; and most significantly, by studying sex differences in disease. These differences include the risk factors women and men face, the way they develop and experience illness, and the way they respond to treatment.
Sex matters. Every cell has a sex, and male and female cells react differently to the same stimuli. Understanding sex differences can revolutionize how we diagnose, care, and cure disease, from catalyzing therapeutic breakthroughs and innovations to driving meaningful advances in women’s health and, thus, strengthening society as a whole.
That is why, at a time when the promise of precision medicine is gaining momentum, sex-based research should be at the forefront—beginning with heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease.
Many people are surprised to learn that heart disease and stroke are the number one killers of women. In fact, they kill one woman roughly every 80 seconds—m...

Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - December 2, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Alzheimer’s Disease Heart Disease Source Type: blogs