Einleitung

Sex and Gender Representations of Myocardial Infarction in German Medical Books

“…This is partially due to estrogen deprivation and different risk behaviors. 14 The epidemiology of CAD in general was mentioned in 9 of 10 books. Concerning MI, women were mentioned in 7 (77,8%) of those 9 books, mostly in reference to the time lag in the occurrence of the first MI in women, compared with men, for example, “female sex (women suffer the first infarction 9 years later than men).” 31 Women's significant risk for MI, particularly in the postmenopausal period, was mentioned in 50% of the books.…”

“…The first German textbook on gender medicine 14 was released in 2004, a book on CAD in women was published 2 years prior, 13 and a special issue about coronary heart disease of the German Health Report was issued by the Robert Koch Institut 12 in 2006. Assuming that a lag time of 2 years would be necessary to include new knowledge into textbooks, there was a focus on cardiology textbooks and compendiums with updated issues published in the 5-year period between 2008 and 2012.…”

“…According to Wiegand and Donald 11 libraries play a “significant role in preserving and perpetuating particular cultural forms and dominant cultural themes.” To test this assumption, the representation of the sexes in publications about MI in German medical textbooks was analyzed. SGSM knowledge about MI was widely available at the time of analysis of all analyzed books published between 2008 and 2012, and was even summarized in a freely available ad hoc publication in the German language, produced by the Robert Koch Institut 12 (the institute in charge of national public health strategies) in 2006; Even considering that books might have taken some years to be published, 13–15 the knowledge about differences was widely present, given that MI is one of the most widely researched conditions in clinical medicine and knowledge about sex and gender differences in this area is available. 16 Hence, progress toward a less gender-biased representation of the sexes could be expected.…”

Untitled

“…The purpose of gender-specific medicine is to achieve these goals – in addition to real benefits to patient care. Yet gender-specific medicine is still used as a euphemism for women's health alone, and the distinct concepts of sex and gender are often not accepted as scientific categories in medical research and practice, despite their substantial relevance [4]. Nevertheless, the array of newly-emerging research, and the range of the papers presented at this conference, indicates a promising change of direction.…”

“…As medical historian Thomas Laqueur has rightly noted, 'everything one wants to say about sex – however sex is understood – already has in it a claim about gender' – or is grounded in the environment or culture [7]. The problem with genetic and biological essentialism and medical care has been noted by Rieder and Lohff [4]. This was also acknowledged by the criticisms of medical students in attendance, who had expected less polarization of sex and gender concepts, and more discussion of the integration of social and cultural factors in gender-specific medicine.…”