Heart drugs have a strong male bias Women are under-represented
in clinical trials of heart drugs, leaving doctors in the dark
as to how treatments may work differently in their bodies,
revealed a review of articles in the European Heart Journal.
Hormones, body weight and other biochemical factors indicate
that men and women respond differently to pharmaceuticals, yet
research on heart disease is skewed heavily towards men. This is
mainly because cardiovascular conditions are erroneously
perceived as “male” diseases, according to Dr Verena Stangl of
the Charite Hospital, Berlin. “Because too few women participate
in heart disease trials, we are not sure whether they really
benefit from some therapeutic strategies that have shown
clinical benefit in trials conducted predominantly in men,” she
said. The pill can trigger cancer Women who take the birth
control pill may be increasing their risk of cervical and breast
cancer, says the World Health Organisation (WHO). A review of
research by scientists at WHO concl