Sex, Gender, Genetics, and Health

Abstract

This article addresses 2 questions. First, to what extent are sex and gender incorporated into research on genetics and health? Second, how might social science understandings of sex and gender, and gender differences in health, become more integrated into scholarship in this area? We review articles on genetics and health published in selected peer-reviewed journals. Although sex is included frequently as a control or stratifying variable, few articles articulate a conceptual frame or methodological justification for conducting research in this way, and most are not motivated by sex or gender differences in health. Gender differences in health are persistent, unexplained, and shaped by multilevel social factors. Future scholarship on genetics and health needs to incorporate more systematic attention to sex and gender, gender as an environment, and the intertwining of social and biological variation over the life course. Such integration will advance understandings of gender differences in health, and may yield insight regarding the processes and circumstances that make genomic variation relevant for health and well-being.

Apoptosis-inducing Effect of the Hexane Extracts from Three Native Iranian Euphorbia Plants

“…Cancer, which is the result of uncontrollable proliferation of cells from body tissues and their spread throughout the body, is a primary threat to human health worldwide and is one of the most significant causes of death (1). Current cancer treatments include chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, or surgery.…”

Survival and its predictors from age 75 to 85 in men and women belonging to cohorts with marked survival differences to age 75: a comparative study in three Nordic populations

“…It can, therefore, be assumed that part of the heterogeneity in the findings of research applying multiple regression analysis is due to the above-described issues in statistical analyses. The selection of people to a longevity trajectory is a complex process calling for a multisystems approach [24,48] and a life course perspective in research [44,45], with an emphasis on differences related to age, cohort, period, and sex, and including genetic, biological, medical, psychological, and social interpretations [24,49].…”

“…In addition to age, sex also is a strong predictor of survival in favor of women [23][24][25][26]. By and large, women have higher rates of acute illnesses and chronic conditions, whereas men have higher rates of the leading fatal conditions and also die from those diseases at younger ages.…”

Thyroid Cancer ? South American Experience

“…The cohort effect affects successive age groups in successive periods of time and is influenced by the exposure to risk factors or lifestyles. Consequently, the increased frequency of papillary cancer may point to an "age effect" and a "cohort effect", particularly in females [61,62].…”