MEN AND women are different, so they need to be treated differently. There is no way to answer the question, “If we are the same or not”, without delving into a theological debate. Though biologically we are, but even science has not made that distinction in the many years that it has been present or practiced. Take the case of characterisation. While a child would well be able to distinguish between a male and female, in the end, he would classify us all as humans, or Homo sapiens. Medicine, much like that child, has done the same. Over the years, we are all treated as humans, sometimes even treating rats has come close to treating humans, but never has a distinction been made to treat one human differently from the other. While each body has its own constitution and each one would react differently to medicines, basic medical experiments do not distinguish between the sexes, like they should.
But now, increasingly more and more medical research is going towards what we can define as gender medicine. To take a more pro-feminist stance, whether females need to be treated differently than males. And I say this because most of the test subjects in the past have predominantly been men.
Mark Glezerman in his book Gender Medicine defines this exact phenomenon. While he leaves no doubt that there needs to be a different branch of medicine for each of the sexes, he clearly lays down a path why this should be so. In the 16 chapters of the book, you would find Glezerman starting from the theory of evolution, how we are different, going right to the gender aspect of doctor-patient relationships. He meticulously explains each approach of his and would convince you more and more as you go through each of the well-documented chapters. The human journey is well defined by Glezerman on how life evolves in the womb and where the differentiation starts. He also covers gender aspects of infertility and pain.
Basically, defining how women perceive pain differently than men, and even react to certain painkillers differently than men. Although the whole book is dedicated to the science of gender medicine, it is the last five chapters that would crack open the debate, and make you wonder what Glezerman wants you to contemplate. It is here that the author unravels the mysteries of the X and Y chromosomes and who is stronger and who is not.
Moreover, it also delves into the issue of doctor-patient relations in the garb of gender research. Although Glezerman tries to portray a bright outlook for the field of gender medicine, he presents enough reasons as to why it would not happen at the pace that it is expected to. “Changing reality to the point of developing a grassroots movement is highly dependent on the education and awareness of the general public and the media about gender medicine, but I believe we can make it happen,” he says, while also highlighting that gender medicine may never become a separate medical discipline as paediatrics or gynaecology. Although he reiterates that “in the not-so-distant future… gender medicine will completely transform medical care so that each of us receives the individual, evidence-based treatment we deserve”.
While the book is a clean piece of writing with not too much jargon to confuse you, there are places where it gets confusing from the standpoint of the reader. Glezerman comes out too optimistic about the field, not laying down clearly how it will evolve, leaving a lot many questions unanswered. Moreover, even though Glezerman follows a step-by-step approach to the field, trying to keep you engaged with references from Tolstoy to Shakespeare, it is still not something I would recommend reading in one go. Though simpler than one of the medical journal papers, it is better to go chapter by chapter and concept by concept if you are really looking to delve deeper into the subjects.
But the beauty of Glezerman’s work is that you can open the book even from the middle and start reading and you wouldn’t miss what preceded this. Glezerman, in the end, convinces you about the field of gender medicine, but he doesn’t answer all questions that you would want him, and I believe that was never the intention too. In the age of the Internet, when some of us have a habit of searching for symptoms on Google before going to a doctor, Glezerman is one person who would not disappoint those doing Internet medical research.
