Trends in sex differences in mortality from heart disease

doi:10.1136/bmj.324.7331.237a

BMJ 2002;324:237 ( 26 January )

Letters

Trends in sex differences in mortality from heart disease

Sex is not same as gender, and theory was first proposed in 1950s, say authors

Oestrogen may contribute to variation in mortality

Sex is not same as gender, and theory was first proposed in 1950s, say authors

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR $---$ In referring to our paper, Editor's choice of 8 September states that "A group from Bristol grabs attention by arguingthat the fact that men have much higher rates of heart diseasethan women may be nothing to do with gender." ¹ ² This showsthe current confusion over the use of the words sex andgender.

The Oxford English Dictionary (http://dictionary.oed.com/entrance.dtl) gives the following definition for gender: "Intendedto emphasize the social and cultural, as opposed to the biological,distinctions between the sexes." We would agree with thisdistinction.

In our study we argued that the fact that men have much higher rates of heart disease than women may be nothing to do withsex $---$ that is, biology such as the female hormone oestrogen $---$ butsomething to do with gender. Indeed, although the data presentedin our study cannot test such a hypothesis, in the discussionwe raised . . . [Full text of this article]

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Sex matters: secular and geographical trends in sex differences in coronary heart disease mortality: D A Lawlor, S Ebrahim, and G Davey Smith
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