Studying sex and gender in neurological disease

Awareness is growing of the relevance of sex and gender for the incidence, prevalence, pathogenesis, diagnosis, manifestations, management, quality of life, and prognosis of various neurological diseases. For example, the occurrence of stroke varies substantially between men and women at different ages. Furthermore, there is mounting evidence that stroke signs and symptoms present differently in men and women, and that risk factors for stroke and other neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, also diverge. Differences in the biological genesis of disease, in the experience and reporting of symptoms, in health-care-seeking behaviour, and gendered interactions and biases in health care might lead to treatment differences between individuals. Gender can be viewed as a determinant not only of patients’ behaviour but also of neurologists’ behaviour, due to biases inherent in medical education.