May 14, 2014 – Gender Difference

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ANCHOR LEAD: STROKE IS YET ONE MORE CONDITION WHERE SYMPTOMS FOR WOMEN AND MINORITIES DIFFER FROM THOSE OF MEN, ELIZABETH TRACEY REPORTS

Women experience many health conditions differently from men, increasing numbers of studies report, as do minorities.  Now research by David Newman-Toker and colleagues at Johns Hopkins shows that stroke, too, is often manifest differently in these populations than in the traditional study population of Caucasian men.

NEWMAN-TOKER: There’s no question that particularly women and minorities are at higher risk of misdiagnosis is in keeping with what’s been seen in the literature for other disorders, heart attacks, where it’s clear there is some disparity that exists there.  The source of that disparity I think for stroke remains incompletely studied.  There have been a few studies that have suggested that stroke workups for Hispanics for instance are less thorough than they are for non-Hispanic whites, but overall it’s an understudied area in terms of the risk of misdiagnosis.    :31

Newman-Toker says research is underway to pinpoint these differences and improve diagnosis.  At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.