The mystery of why diseases do not affect men and women in the same way

It is no secret that men and women face unique health challenges because of their genes. But to truly understand and address these challenges, are we relying too much on genetic factors that affect diseases, symptoms and health outcomes? Beyond genetics and medical factors, what role do other factors play in the evolution of our health?

A study led by Queen Mary University of London challenges the traditional reliance on genetic factors. To compare health risks and outcomes between the two, researchers did not limit themselves to genetic and medical factors. They looked at a wide range of social factors, such as place of residence and work, educational level, lifestyle and economic status. Their findings were published in the journal Nature Communications.

“For the first time in history, we managed to study human biology at this level of detail: genes, proteins and much more,” said lead author Mine Koprulu, a postdoctoral researcher at Queen Mary University’s PHURI, in a press release. “This is the largest study to date exploring the similarities and differences in the way our genetic code regulates blood protein levels between the sexes.” Using data from the huge biomedical database UK Biobank and the Fenland Study, the researchers analysed the genetic links between six thousand proteins and hundreds of diseases in fifty-six thousand individuals, equally distributed between men and women.

Interaction between genetics and social factors

The results revealed that only about 100 proteins showed significant differences between the sexes. This finding suggests that genetic similarities between the sexes are more evident than previously thought.

“Our results clearly show that, with very few exceptions, the genetic regulatory variants of the proteins identified so far behave very similarly in men and women,” said PHURI director Claudia Langenberg, who is Professor of Computational Medicine at the Berlin Institute of Health, Charité. “This provides evidence for an important implicit assumption: that the knowledge derived from studying these variants applies to both sexes.

“Our findings highlight the need to better understand the factors that influence differences in health, not just at the genetic level, in order to create more tailored and equitable healthcare for all,” Koprulu added.

“Drug development processes increasingly incorporate information about genetic differences in protein levels and function, which has led to large investments in human cohorts, such as the UK Biobank biomedical database,” Langenberg explained. “From this perspective, a better understanding of population differences in protein regulation, such as those between males and females, is essential to guide precision medicine methods and identify where one size does not fit all.”

Effective management of the factors we can influence remains crucial. Although we cannot change our genes, we can choose to take care of our health and well-being regardless of our sexual orientation.

More information: CORDIS.