ArticleBiology of sex differences2015
The evolution of sex differences in disease.
Article in Biology of sex differences, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 48 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
48 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Systematic review reveals multiple sexually antagonistic polymorphisms affecting human disease and complex traits.Evolution; international journal of organic evolution · 2021Pooled it
- Psychological therapies for the treatment of depression in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019Pooled it
- Temporal trends in mortality attributable to atrial fibrillation among adults with acute renal failure in the United States, 1999-2024.International urology and nephrology · 2026Article
- Host Genetics and the Skin Microbiome Independently Predict Parasite Resistance.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- The relationship between sexual dimorphism and intersex correlation: do models support intuition?Genetics · 2025Article
- Incidence, risk factors and outcomes of AKI among trauma patients in a tertiary hospital in south-east, Nigeria.BMC nephrology · 2025Article
- Independent effects of testosterone, estradiol, and sex chromosomes on gene expression in immune cells of trans- and cisgender individuals.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- On the resolution of sexual conflict over shared traits.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Review
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- Sex and seasonal differences in neural steroid sensitivity predict territorial aggression in Siberian hamsters.Hormones and behavior · 2023Article
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- The EvMed Assessment: A test for measuring student understanding of core concepts in evolutionary medicine.Evolution, medicine, and public health · 2023Article
- Sex differences in allometry for phenotypic traits in mice indicate that females are not scaled males.Nature communications · 2022Article
- Systematic review reveals sexually antagonistic knockouts in model organisms.Ecology and evolution · 2022Review
- Social factors and the neurobiology of pathogen avoidance.Biology letters · 2022Review
- Understanding the health care utilization behavior to achieve the sustainable development goals-a comparative study of Malda District, India.SN social sciences · 2022Article
- Sex-Biased Control of Inflammation and Metabolism by a Mitochondrial Nod-Like Receptor.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Article
- Sex Differences in Cancer-Specific Survival Are Pronounced during Adolescence and Young Adulthood: A SEER Population-Based Study.Epidemiologia (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
It is now becoming widely recognized that there are important sex differences in disease. These include rates of disease incidence, symptoms and age of onset. These differences between the sexes can be seen as a subset of the more general phenomenon of sexual dimorphism of quantitative phenotypes. From a genetic point of view, this is paradoxical, since the vast majority of genetic material is shared between the sexes. How can males and females differ in so many ways and yet have a common genetic code? Traditionally, the modifying action of hormones has been offered as a solution to this paradox, but experiments disentangling the effects of hormones and sex-chromosomes have shown that this cannot be the sole explanation. In this review, I outline current ideas about the evolutionary origins of sex differences in phenotypes, with a particular focus on how sex differences in disease can arise. I also discuss how sex differences in themselves can generate new risk factors for disease, in effect becoming a new environmental factor, as well as briefly reviewing more general evidence for sexually antagonistic selection and genetic variation within humans. Taking an evolutionary view on sex differences in disease provides an opportunity for greater understanding of mechanisms of disease and as such provides a clear motivation for clinicians to explore how therapies may be tailored to the individual in a sex-dependent way.
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