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Saving Lives: Why Gender-Specific Medicine
Will Transform Healthcare For Men and Women - Part
2
In Part 1,
I described my own experiences with mainstream
medicine and my interest in developing a more
personalized way of offering healthcare for men and
their families. I learned about the work of Dr.
Marianne J. Legato when I read her book,
Eve’s Rib: The New Science of Gender-Specific
Medicine and How It Can Save Your Life.
Dr. David C. Page’s work at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology on the
genetics differences between males and females
opened up new avenues for exploration. He said,
“We’ve had a unisex vision of
the human genome. Men and women are not equal in
our genome and men and women are not equal in
the face of disease.”
In part 2, I will continue to explore the value
of a gender-specific approach to men and women and
how we can develop better healthcare for all.
XX and XY: On The Genetic Superiority of
Women
While Dr. Page was conducting genetic research
with a particular interest in the Y chromosome,
Sharon Moalem, MD, PhD, was looking at sex
differences that related to the X chromosome. In
his book, The Better Half: On the Genetic
Superiority of Women, Dr. Moalem begins by
offering the following basic facts:
- Women live longer than men.
- Women have stronger immune systems.
- Women are less likely to suffer from a
developmental disability.
- Women are more likely to see the world in a
wider variety of colors.
- Women are, overall, better at fighting
cancer.
- Women are simply stronger than men at every
stage of life.
Dr. Moalem’s research points to the
benefits that accrue to females because they have
two X chromosomes in every cell of their bodies
where males have only one. Dr. Moalem’s
interest in the benefits of the X chromosome came
home to him when he and his wife were in a serious
automobile accident.
“So, you know what I was thinking
while strapped to a spine board in the back of
the ambulance hurtling toward the hospital? I
was thinking about how grateful I was that my
wife, Emma, was a genetic female with two X
chromosomes.”
He goes on to say,
“I knew from my clinical work and
research that even if my wife’s injuries
were the same as mine, given the odds, she was
likely to make a better and faster recovery than
I was. Her wounds would heal faster, and she
would have less of a chance of subsequent
infections because of her superior immune
system. All in all, her prognosis was almost
assured to be better than mine.”
Melvin Konner, MD, PhD, applies science to human
nature and experience, exploring the links between
biology and behavior, medicine and society, nature
and culture. In his book, Women After All: Sex,
Evolution and the End of Male Supremacy, he
says,
“Women are not equal to men;
they are superior in many ways, and in the most
ways that will count in the future. It is
not just a matter of culture or upbringing,
although both play their roles. It is a matter
of biology and of the domains of our thoughts
and feelings influenced by biology. It is
because of chromosomes, genes, hormones, and
nerve circuits. It is not mainly because of
what your mother taught you or how experience
shaped you. It is mainly because of intrinsic
differences in the body and the brain.”
In their book, Gender Gap: The Biology of
Male-Female Differences, evolutionary
psychologist David P. Barash, PhD. and his wife,
Judith Eve Lipton, MD, who is a medical doctor and
psychiatrist, offer similar conclusions based on
their extensive experience.
“When it comes to human nature,
the differences between males and females must
be acknowledged as real, important, and
downright fascinating. Moreover, when it comes
to understanding those differences, there is no
better guide than evolution.
The Telomere Effect: Living Younger,
Healthier, Longer
Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, PhD, received the Nobel
Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 2009 alongside
two colleagues for the discovery of the molecular
nature of telomeres, the ends of chromosomes that
serve as protective caps, and for discovering
telomerase, the enzyme that maintains
telomeres.
Dr. Elisa Epel, PhD, is a leading psychologist
who studies stress, aging, and obesity. She is a
professor in the Department of Psychiatry and the
University of California San Francisco, and directs
UCSF’s Aging, Metabolism, and Emotions (AME)
Center.
In their book, The Telomere Effect: Living
Younger, Healthier, Longer, they say,
“We now have a comprehensive
understanding of human telomere maintenance,
from cell to society, and what it can mean in
human lives and communities.”
In a research study “Sex Differences in
Telomeres and Lifespan,” published in the
journal, Aging Cell, Emma L B Barrett and David S.
Richardson, say,
“Males and females often age at
different rates resulting in longevity
‘gender gaps’, where one sex outlives
the other. Why the sexes have different
lifespans is an age-old question, still fiercely
debated today. One cellular process related to
lifespan, which is known to differ according to
sex, is the rate at which the protective
telomere chromosome caps are lost. In humans,
men have shorter lifespans and greater telomere
shortening. This has led to speculation in the
medical literature that sex-specific telomere
shortening is one cause of sex-specific
mortality.”
In a 2022 research paper by Ericka
Méndez-Chacón, “Gender
Differences in Perceived Stress and Its
Relationship to Telomere Length in Costa Rican
Adults,” she says,
“Telomere length differs by sex,
with women having longer telomeres on average.
It is believed that estrogen has antioxidant
properties that can protect the telomeres and
that testosterone lacks these properties.”
The good news, as Drs. Blackburn and Epel point
out, is that we can actually change the length of
our telomeres.
“You can make simple changes to
keep your chromosomes and cells healthy. You can
use telomere science to support your cells.
Begin with changes that you can make to your
mental habits and then to your body—to the
kinds of exercise, food, and sleep routines that
are best for your telomeres.”
In Part 3, I will explore the evolutionary basis
of our differences and describe our Moonshot for
Mankind mission to improve the lives of men and the
families who love them.
©2023 Jed
Diamond
See Books,
Issues
+ Suicide
* * *
Wealth can't buy health, but health can buy
wealth. - Henry David Thoreau
Jed Diamond
is the internationally best-selling author of seven
books including Male
Menopause, now
translated into 17 foreign languages and his
latest book, The
Irritable Male Syndrome: Managing. The 4 Key Causes
of Depression and
Aggression. For over
38 years he has been a leader in the field of men's
health. He is a member of the International
Scientific Board of the World Congress on
Men’s Health and has been on the Board of
Advisors of the Men’s Health Network since its
founding in 1992. His work has been featured in
major newspapers throughout the United States
including the New York Times, Boston Globe, Wall
Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, and USA
Today. He has been featured on more than 1,000
radio and T.V. programs including The View with
Barbara Walters, Good Morning America, Inside
Edition, CBS, NBC, and Fox News, To Tell the Truth,
Extra, Leeza, Geraldo, and Joan Rivers. He also did
a nationally televised special on Male Menopause
for PBS. He looks forward to your feedback.
E-Mail.
You can visit his website at www.menalive.com
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