Sex differences in medicine

Examples of sex-related illnesses and disorders in human females:[6]

• 99% of breast cancer occurs in women.[32]
• Ovarian cancer, endometriosis and other diseases affect the female reproductive system.[33]
• Females are more likely to experience severe outcomes from viral respiratory tract infections during their reproductive years, compared to males of the same age. In response to treatment, females may develop greater immune responses but may also experience more adverse reactions than males.[34][35]
• Approximately four times more women have osteoporosis than men.[36]
• Autoimmune diseases, such as Sjögren's syndrome and scleroderma, are more prevalent in women. Roughly 70% of those living with autoimmune diseases are female.[9][10] See Sex differences in autoimmunity.
• While estimates vary widely,[37][38] eating disorders are estimated to affect as high as 13% of women in some age groups[39][40][41] and 3% of men in Western cultures, with anorexia nervosa affecting 10 women for each man and bulimia nervosa affecting 8 women for each man.[42]
• Alzheimer's disease has a higher incidence in females compared to males.[43] There are also phenotypic differences, with females displaying more cognitive deficits. Females are also more likely to have neurofibrillary tangles present on autopsy.[44]
• Huntington's disease affects females and males differently. Females have faster disease progression, and display symptoms with fewer trinucleotide repeats.[44][45]
• About two times more women than men have unipolar clinical depression (although bipolar disorder appears to affect both sexes equally).[46][47]
• About three times more women than men are diagnosed with borderline or histrionic personality disorder.[48]
• Conditions such as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)/myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and idiopathic hypersomnia, which have unclear causes, are more common in women, with sex ratios ranging from 2:1 in IBS,[49] fibromyalgia,[50] and idiopathic hypersomnia[51] to 4:1 in CFS,[52] and 5:1 in POTS.[53]
• Most people with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) (75%) are female.[54][55][56]
• Ataxic cerebral palsy is more common in women and girls.[57]
• Turner Syndrome only occurs in females.[58]

Examples of sex-related illnesses and disorders in male humans:[6]

• Prostate cancer, testicular cancer and other diseases of the male reproductive system occur in men.[59]
• Diseases of X-linked recessive inheritance, such as colour blindness, occur more frequently in men, and haemophilia A and B occur almost exclusively in men.[60]
• The presence of a single X chromosome in males (rather than two in females) may explain why males are more susceptible to genetic diseases linked to the X chromosome,[29][30][28] including hemophilia, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and Hunter syndrome.[61]
• Certain neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinson's disease (2:1 ratio) and Lewy body dementia (4:1 ratio)) are more prevalent in males.[44][62] Parkinson's also displays phenotypic differences: males are more likely to present with sleep disturbances and deficits in verbal fluency and facial expression.[44]
• Abdominal aortic aneurysms are six times more common in men, and thus some countries have introduced screening for males at risk of developing the condition.[63]
• Autism is approximately four times more prevalent in males than females.[64] Males also have distinct autism phenotypes compared to females, including a higher prevalence of restrictive and repetitive behaviors.[65]
• Males have increased risk of dyskinetic cerebral palsy and spastic diplegia, as well as lower limb deformities.[57]
• Schizophrenia is about 1.4 times as common in males, and on average starts two years earlier and has more severe symptoms.[66]
• More than two times more men than women are affected by antisocial personality disorder and substance use disorder.[67][68]
• Several cancers, including stomach cancer (2:1),[69] oesophageal cancer (3:1),[70] liver cancer (2:1 to 4:1)[71] and oral cancer (2:1 to 3:1),[72] which have mostly lifestyle-based risk factors, are more common in men.
• Males are more likely to experience severe outcomes from viral respiratory tract infections than females, at younger and older ages.[34]
• Tuberculosis is more common in men.[73]
• In cases of preterm birth, being male is associated with higher mortality and morbidity in terms of respiratory distress, cardiovascular disorders (specifically hypotension), neurodevelopmental disorders, and immune disorders.[74]
• Although both males and females can have eating disorders, males are less likely to be diagnosed and receive treatment.[75][76][77]
• Klinefelter syndrome (karyotype XXY) is the most common sex chromosome aneuploidy (occurring in ~152/100,000 births, only in males). It is often subclinical, but can cause infertility, tall stature, gynecomastia (enlargement of the breast tissue), limited facial and body hair, and small firm testicles.[78][79]