Tntil just recently, medical

Z,F,<I lresearcners assumed mat

t' I I men and women were

(~' Ii J physiologically identical,

r@ ~ save for their reproductive

organs. But scientists have now uncovered vital

differences in the ways in which men's and

women's bodies function, experience illness

and respond to treatments.

Much remains to be explored in the emerg-

ing field of gender-specific medicine. However

new findings already show that common con-

ditions can be treated much more'~.ffectively

when Render is taken into consideration

PAIN IN WOMEN

Men and women have different physiologi-

cal responses to intense pain.

For example, a man's blood pressure rises

during intense pain. A woman's blood pressure

remains stable or declines, but her heart rate

accelerates. This difference has Important impli-

cations after surgery, when anesthesiologists

typically monitor blood pressure to assess a

patient's need for painkilling analgesics.

Self-defense: A female surgical patient

should request that heart rate be monitored

along with blood pressure. If her heart rate in-

creases, more pain medication needs to be

administered.

SKIN CANCER IN MEN

More than one million adult Americans are

diagnosed with skin cancer each year. Among

these cases, white men age 45 or older are

twice as prone as women to the most com-

mon skin cancers (basal and squamous cell

carcinoma). Men are also more vulnerable to

deadly melanoma, accounting for nearly two-

thirds of the 7,000 deaths caused by this type

of cancer each year.

Marianne J. Legato, MD, founder of the Partnership for

Gender-Specific Medicine at Columbia University and a

professor of clinical medicine at Columbia's College ot

Physicians and Surgeons, both in New York City. She is

author of Eve's Rib.. The New Science of Gender-Specific

Medicine and How It Can Save Your Life (Harmony).