Q. What is “gender-specific”
medicine?
A. Gender-specific medicine is the science
that discovers how disease affects men and women differently.
Research has confirmed significant variations in how major
diseases first appear and then develop differently in men
and women.
Q. Why is this significant?
A. If women and men better understood gender
differences, they could visit their healthcare provider
better prepared to ask questions about specific conditions,
treatments, and outcomes. Heart disease
is an excellent example. The differences between men and
women regarding risk, symptoms and consequences of coronary
artery disease show that women may die needlessly, simply
due to misdiagnosis. Even after a heart attack, women may
be treated less aggressively than men.
Q. Are there other therapeutic areas where
there are gender-specific health issues?
A. Yes. For example, asthma, diabetes
and mental health are three areas
impacted by gender differences.
For example, in 2002, 11.6 million females
had asthma, compared with 8.5 million males. Women
make more emergency room visits with asthma attacks. Some
women are uniquely susceptible to worsening of the disease
just before they menstruate because of a difference in the
way they metabolize medicine given to them to prevent an
asthma attack.
Women with diabetes have a four- to
six-fold increase in risk for developing coronary artery
disease compared with diabetic men, while a man’s
risk doubles if he has the disease.
Typically higher levels of serotonin in men’s
brains may explain why women are twice as likely to suffer
from major depression than are men.
Q. What is the LLuminari® Embracing Women’s
Health™ Movement?
A. LLuminari, a health education company,
has launched a national health education movement called
Embracing Women’s Health™ to improve
awareness and understanding of the health impact of gender-specific
differences.
The web site is unique because it has been
developed by the LLuminari Experts, a team of the country’s
most trusted physicians and health experts who are also
great communicators.
The health content presented on the Embracing
Women’s Health web site features original, gender-specific
health information; in depth coverage is currently offered
on heart health, mental health, diabetes and asthma. Some
of the additional topics covered include reproductive health,
sexual health, fitness, exercise, and nutrition.
Q. What is the goal of this movement?
A. The goal of the Embracing Women’s
Health movement is for people to begin asking their healthcare
provider questions based on their gender. LLuminari believes
that this dialog will lead to better care, more informed
health choices and an increased demand for more research
on gender-based medicine.
Q. How does a person get involved or join
the movement?
A. People can simply register online at www.EmbracingWomensHealth.com
to join the movement. The web site provides participants
with an opportunity to share inspiring personal stories
and become LLuminari® Health Champions, as well as create
their own Web Log (BLOG) to help expand the online community.
Q. What is the organization behind the movement?
LLuminari, based in Wilmington, Delaware, is a health education
company comprised of nationally known physicians and health
experts committed to women’s health, both in the workplace
and at home. Named to evoke the idea of illumination, LLuminari
physicians and health experts translate complex medical
information into powerful and comprehensive formats and
points-of-view that people understand and can act upon to
improve personal and family health.
