Findings To Be Presented at Society for Women’s Health Research’s 10th Annual Meeting
Washington, DC, October 25 2000 – Gender plays a major role in the way we experience and respond to various treatments for pain, addiction, and sexually transmitted diseases, according to recent research. These and other emerging trends in sex-based research will be presented and discussed at the Society for Women's Health Research's 10th Annual Scientific Advisory Meeting, October 26-27, being held at 1200 New York Avenue, NW, in Washington, DC.
Several presentations will focus on sex differences with regard to pain. Jeffrey Mogil, PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne, will present a summary of known sex-based differences in pain experienced by mice, including evidence that the neural processing of pain and analgesia (pain treatment) among males and females is quantitatively and qualitatively different. In fact, a certain class of pain relievers, kappa opioids, has not gained wide clinical acceptance because of minimal effectiveness in men, who make up most of the participants in clinical trials, according to Robert Gear, DDS, PhD, University of California, San Francisco. "Now we know that kappa opioids in fact produce much better pain relief in women, and should be considered an important treatment option," says Dr. Gear. Linda LeResche, ScD, University of Washington, will present findings on the role of hormones in chronic or recurrent pain conditions, as well as the epidemiology of pain conditions by gender and age.
Zeda Rosenberg, ScD, will report on topical microbicides and how women are generally at greater risk than men for STDs and HIV. Data also suggest that there is a lower HIV-1 viral load in women in the early stages of HIV infection than in men, according to Timothy Sterling, MD, Johns Hopkins University. Despite the initial viral load differences, there is no documented sex difference in progression to AIDS. However, he says the viral load data will help in the formulation of different treatment guidelines for women with HIV. Penelope Hitchcock, DVM, National Institutes of Health, will discuss the role of female hormones and the cervical environment in determining human papilova virus (HPV) effects.
Drug dependency and addiction is another area where gender differences are being discovered. Specifically, drug dependent women differ from drug dependent men in many ways, including prevalence and types of psychiatric disorders, histories of childhood and adult physical and sexual abuse, and family systems, according to Mary E. McCaul, PhD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "These differences have a strong impact on substance abuse treatment and outcomes," McCaul says. Scott Lukas, PhD, McLean Hospital, Harvard University, will talk about the different pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic effects of cocaine on men and women and how this information must be factored into the design and administration of treatment programs.
"The data being presented at this meeting hold broad implications for disease prevention and treatment, and we are eager to see it integrated into the entire health care community," says Phyllis Greenberger, MSW, executive director of the Society for Women’s Health Research. "With this evidence, we can move toward a better understanding of how women experience pain, sexually transmitted diseases, or drug or alcohol addiction."
The Society for Women’s Health Research, founded in 1990, is the nation’s only not-for-profit organization whose sole mission is to improve the health of women through research. The Society advocates increased funding for research on women’s health, encourages the study of sex differences that may affect the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, and promotes the inclusion of women in medical research studies.
The meeting is open to interested media. To interview Ms. Greenberger or any of the presenters, please contact Madeline Marquis, 202-955-6222.