Sex and gender in COPD and asthma
Joan B. Soriano,Francesca Polverino
European Respiratory Journal 2023 62: 2301505; DOI: 10.1183/13993003.01505-2023
Extract
There is often confusion regarding the distinction of sex from gender [1, 2]. Both terms are related concepts, but have different meanings. On the one hand, sex refers to the biological characteristics that differentiate males and females. These characteristics are typically categorised into two primary aspects: chromosomes (XX for females and XY for males), and anatomy, as males and females typically have different reproductive anatomy, including genitalia and gonads (testes in males, ovaries in females), and secondary sexual characteristics like breasts and facial hair. On the other hand, gender refers to the social, psychological and cultural attributes, expectations, and roles that societies consider appropriate for men, women and people of other gender identities [3]. Gender is more complex and cannot be solely determined by biological factors, as it involves several components, such as:
Sex is a paramount part of overall health. Respirologists and primary care doctors, when dealing with respiratory patients and aiming for holistic management, should not consider sexual health a taboo. https://bit.ly/3trQZaq
Footnotes
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Conflict of interest: The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.
- Received August 25, 2023.
- Accepted October 9, 2023.
- Copyright ©The authors 2023. For reproduction rights and permissions contact permissions@ersnet.org
