Introduction

Women's health concerns have been considered, examined, and researched differently by the medical establishment than those of men. Their concerns and diseases have often been considered unusual and abnormal when compared to those of men. Yet, the differences between women and men, discovered and noted in medicine and research, may be more a creation of society and its expectations than that of nature. Women are more similar to men than they are different. Research: Extension, exclusion, and marginalization: Historically, researchers and clinicians who read the results have assumed that the data and conclusions on men, often middle-aged white men, could be applied to women of all ages, the elderly, children, and different ethnicities. The American Medical Association (AMA) concluded that “Medical treatments for women are based on a male model, regardless of the fact that women may react differently to treatments than men or that some diseases manifest themselves differently in women than men. The results of medical research on men are generalized to women without sufficient evidence of applicability to women”. Exclusion: Women, children, ethnic minorities and the elderly were historically excluded from research protocols.