Allergy Fun Fact
I have been drowning in drug allergy data and analysis lately. Here is an interesting tidbit from 3 years of data -- Women reported >2/3 (69%) of the allergies and Men only ~1/3 (31%). Draw your own conclusions....
A quick Google search reveals: "Females were also 2.6 times more likely than males to report multiple drug allergies," There have also been previous reports of studies that found female sex to be a risk factor for adverse drug reactions in general." SOURCE: Annals of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, July 2007. [I am leaving this one alone]
Comments
Allergy fun fact
John,
thanks for sharing but you surely don't think you can drop that little tidbit and run :)
It is becoming clear women have different, 'stronger', immune systems to men, mounting more powerful immune responses. In the book Sex Hormones and Immunity to Infection, Sabra Klein, PhD, assistant prof at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, explores the differences in the immune systems of men and women and how these differences can impact disease http://bit.ly/9F9iHe
It may well be that they would have different allergic responses to drugs and other substances too.
Women's immune systems must certainly be finely tuned when you think they have to carry a baby for 9 months without their bodies rejecting it.
Mind you, I wouldn't be surprised if overall it was found that more women than men reported any kind of medical condition, since it is well known that women are more frequent flyers than men at the doctor's surgery. Women are more inclined to have things investigated.
Pauline