Men and women have clear differences in their health factors and health needs. Before the 1990’s there was no real research on women’s health because it was just assumed that the female body worked the same as the male body. Another reason women were excluded from medical research was because it would make the studies too expensive and companies didn’t want to deal with the potential effects from women’s fluctuating hormone levels and pregnancy risks. There are several historical examples that have shown how wrong this was, one of the most infamous was the thalidomide incident. Thalidomide was a drug sold in the 1950’s and 1960’s that was used to treat a number of things, including morning sickness in pregnant women. Because of the improper research done there were children born all over the world with terrible birth defects.

This case helped bring up the question “does sex matter?” The simple answer is yes. Diseases and other common healthy defects show differently in men vs women. For example cardiovascular diseases presented themselves differently in women and cause women to have more strokes, and more consequences due to atrial fibrillation. This isn’t the only health difference between men and women, more women are affected by; iron deficiencies, kidney disease, autoimmune diseases, fibromyalgia, osteoporosis, and Alzheimer’s as well as several mental disorders.

Not only are there biological differences between men and women, there are also social and cultural aspects that go along with why there is a gender health gap. The health gap shows how women in society are not given equal care. When looking at cost of healthcare not including pregnancy and postpartum care women spend 24% more than men. Part of the problem is men don’t want to go to the doctor, many believe that because of their fragile masculinity men refuse to get help when needed. Pair this with poor life choices like binge drinking, drugs and smoking, which men are more likely to take part in than women, makes for a shorter life expectancy in men. The combination of women living longer and spending more on healthcare in general leads to an even larger gap between the treatment of men and women.