One drug does not fit all: Impact of sex and gender on pharmacological response

It is important to remember that gender health and illness should not to be conflated with women's health and illness. Turshen1 reports that numerous studies with 'gender' in the title use the word gender as a synonym for 'women' and as a result, men's gender-specific needs are missed. In addition, in reporting demographic characteristics of the study participants, some clinical trialists use the term 'gender' and some 'sex' to indicate men and women and this may create confusion. It can be difficult to separate the two concepts, because there are continuous and constant interactions and relationships between sex and gender3. In other words, sex and gender work together. However, little attention is paid to the fact that gender is a sex modifier. It is relevant to have in mind that both sex and gender affect health and illness4.