Author: Amy Huebschmann, Professor of Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

TECH

Women are at a higher risk of dying from heart disease − in part because doctors don’t take major sex and gender differences into account

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A simple difference in the genetic code – two X chromosomes versus one X chromosome and one Y chromosome – can lead to major differences in heart disease. It turns out that these genetic differences influence more than just sex organs and sex assigned at birth – they fundamentally alter the way cardiovascular disease develops and presents. While sex influences the mechanisms behind how cardiovascular disease develops, gender plays a role in how health care providers recognize and manage it. Sex refers to biological characteristics such as genetics, hormones, anatomy and physiology, while gender refers to social, psychological and cultural…

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