News Janusmed Sex and Gender
Precautionary measures recommended for men treated with valproate
The European Medicines Agency recommends precautionary measures for men treated with valproate, to reduce a potential increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in children whose fathers have been treated with valproate before conception. Since earlier, EMA has issued warnings about valproate in the treatment of girls and women. Here you can read about valproate in the knowledge database.
2024-01-24
Participate in our user survey!
If you use Janusmed Sex and Gender you are most welcome to participate in our user survey. The answers will be used to further improve the knowledge database. The survey is open until March 5, 2024 and is anonymous. Follow the link to access the survey: Survey Janusmed Sex and Gender
12/05/2023
English synonyms are now searchable
It is now possible to search for synonyms to certain drug substances. For example, acetaminophen (also known as paracetamol).
12/05/2023
Increased use of antidepressants in the elderly
Between the years 2006-2022, use of antidepressants among people aged 65 and older increased in Sweden, especially among women, according to a report from the National Board of Health and Welfare. Overall, more women use antidepressants, although the sex difference has decreased somewhat over the time period. More women were also diagnosed with depression and anxiety, which indicates sex and gender differences in diagnosis and health-seeking behavior, according to the report authors.
12/04/2023
Find medicine by classification
It is now possible to see which medicines are included in each classification category. Go to the index page and select one of the classifications.
11/27/2023
Welcome to the new Janusmed Sex and Gender!
The knowledge database has a new design and a new search function.
09/05/2023
The knowledge database acknowledged in American Journal of Therapeutics
In a Letter to the editor, the knowledge database is mentioned as a support to reduce the knowledge gap of sex and gender differences within evidence-based medicine. The article authors highlight that continuous research efforts and studies with sufficient power are needed to generate evidence about sex and gender differences in drug efficacy and safety.
11/18/2022
Women less likely to receive appropriate care for chronic kidney disease
Men were twice as likely as women to be diagnosed with chronic kidney disease within 18 months after kidney failure had been identified, according to a registry study from Karolinska Institutet which analyzed creatinine samples from individuals in Region Stockholm. Women were less likely to have their kidney function monitored, referred to a nephrologist and receive guideline-recommended medications.
08/09/2022
Reporting of sex and gender is required when publishing in Nature
The journal’s new policy encourages authors to describe whether, and how, sex and gender were considered in the study design. If no sex or gender analyzes were performed, the authors will need to clarify why. Authors must also present sex-disaggregated data where relevant. This will apply to studies in humans as well as in animals and experimental studies.
06/14/2022
Estrogen supplementation reduced the risk of dying in covid-19
Postmenopausal women treated with estrogen supplementation had a lower risk of dying in covid-19 compared with women who did not receive estrogen supplementation or reduction. This shows a national register study from Umeå University (in Swedish) and published in BMJ Open.
02/19/2022
Sex and gender differences in respiratory health
Health care and research need to do a better job of taking into account sex and gender differences that can affect disease, healthy behaviors, and care delivery, according to speakers at the European Respiratory Society International Congress 2021.
09/21/2021
Fewer men have been vaccinated against covid-19 in Sweden
Despite that more men than women have become seriously ill with covid-19, fewer men than women have so far been vaccinated against covid-19, according to Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). The sex difference is seen in all age groups, but most clearly among the younger groups. What causes thsese differences in vaccination rate is difficult to know, but the pattern reflects general gender differences observed in health care seeking behavior.
08/17/2021
Vaccine against covid-19
The knowledge bank now contains sex-specific information on vaccines against covid-19 (ATC code J07BX).
06/16/2021
Clear sex differences in risk of severe covid-19
Men have a higher risk of inpatient care, intensive care and death in covid-19 than women, according to a new report (in Swedish) from the Center for Epidemiology and Community Medicine (CES). Largest sex difference is seen in the age group 50-64 years. The excess risk among men are not explained by previous morbidity or socioeconomic factors, instead biological sex differences are believed to be of importance.
04/20/2021
More women have reported adverse events after covid-19 vaccination
Among the adverse events after covid-19 vaccination reported to the Swedish Medical Products Agency, significantly more are reported by women than by men, according to the Swedish Gender Equality Agency (in Swedish). However, the number of reports are few and the adverse events are not considered to be serious. Possible explanations for the sex differences may be that women have more adverse events, women are more likely to report adverse events, or that more women have been vaccinated.
03/16/2021
Women are more likely to suffer from healthcare injuries in psychiatry
A review of 4,000 medical records conducted by Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions shows that 18 percent of women and 12 percent of men received a health care injury, according to the Radio Sweden (in Swedish). A healthcare injury can be that the patient receives the wrong diagnosis or the wrong medication.
03/12/2021
New guidance aims to increase understanding of sex and gender as modifier of chronic disease
A review in Lancet explore the influences of sex and gender as modifiers of the major causes of death and morbidity. It aims to guide clinicians and researchers to consider sex and gender in their approach to diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, as a necessary step towards precision medicine.
09/22/2020
Consideration of patient’s sex now required by British Journal of Pharmacology
A new themed issue from British Journal of Pharmacology writes about the importance of sex differences in pharmacology research. A new journal policy recommends that all studies submitted for publication in the journal must consider sex as an experimental variable. Read the themed issue here.
11/21/2019
Sex differences in cancer risk and survival
A Swedish thesis have analysed sex differences in cancer risk and survival over time. Women’s better survival in non-small cell lung cancer indicates sex differences in tumor biology. Women’s poorer survival in bladder cancer was restricted to those with muscle invasive bladder cancer, indicating differences in clinical management and treatment of men and women with muscle invasive tumors. The thesis also showed that the excess cancer risk in men is explained by body height.
12/06/2019
Researchers should have sex and gender in mind
In a special edition of Nature, five experts write that sex and gender are often ignored in research. Thinking about sex and gender would help researchers improve their research, they write. The paper highlights a number of examples where the inclusion of sex and gender has contributed to advanced understanding or insight. The authors specify a roadmap for sex and gender analysis and urge researchers, funding agencies, journals and universities to coordinate efforts to implement robust methods of sex and gender analysis.
11/14/2019
The Swedish Research Council introduces sex and gender perspectives in grant applications
Researchers applying for grants from the Swedish Research Council must now describe whether sex and gender perspectives are relevant in their planned research.
01/28/2019
Information on more medications are now available
The knowledge bank now contain sex-specific information on several antivirals (ATC code J05), cancer medications (ATC code L01), and medications for endocrine therapy (ATC code L02) .
12/20/2018
Sex differences in adverse drug events for antihypertensive agents
A new Swedish study have analyzed sex differences in spontaneous adverse drug events (ADE) for antihypertensives between 2005-2012. In women, a higher prevalence of ADE reports were seen for following pharmacological groups: ACE inhibitors, combination of ACE inhibitor and thiazide, angiotensine II antagonists, combination of angiotensin II antagonist and thiazide, thiazides, and potassium-sparing agents. Aldosteron antagonists was the only pharmacological group with higher prevalence of ADE reports among men.
10/02/2018
Coronary artery disease in post-menopausal women
A newly publiced review provides a current perspective on sex differences in coronary artery disease (CAD) and limitations of assessing CAD in post-menopausal women. Novel tools for assessing CAD in post-menopausal women are highlighted.
10/02/2018
Sex distribution in drug trials in cariovascular disease examined
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have investigated women’s participation in pivotal cardiovascular disease (CVD) trials for drugs receiving FDA approval between 2005-2015. Representation of women was too low i relation to disease prevalence in studies in heart failure, coronary artery disease, and acute coronary syndrome. Representation of men was too low i studies in pulmonell hypertension. No differences between men and women in drug efficacy and safety were observed.
10/02/2018
Immunotherapy efficacy differs between men and women
Survival among patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors was higher in men than women, according to a large meta-analysis recently published in Lancet Oncology. The meta-analysis included over 11 300 patients treated with ipilimumab, tremelimumab, nivolumab, or pembrolizumab for cancer.
05/17/2018
New book examines how drugs affect gender roles
The book Gendering Drugs investigates how drugs help create different beliefs about sex and gender. Expectations and marketing of drugs affect the importance and use of drugs which thus can differ between countries. Topics included are HPV vaccine and treatment of benign prostatic enlargement. The book is written by researchers from, among others, Sweden, Great Britain, Austria and Colombia.
12/05/2017
Sex differences in diagnosis and treatment of depression
A new dissertation has examined sex aspects in diagnosing and treating depression in adults, reports the Swedish magazine Läkemedelsvärlden (in Swedish). The thesis shows that more men than women had symptoms of depression, while more women were diagnosed with depression. More women than men were treated with antidepressant drugs.
11/30/2017
The sex of animals impact on biomedical research
A recent publication in Nature Communications has quantified the differences between male and female mice. The importance of the sex was greater than previously thought. The findings show that sex should be taken into account when designing and analyzing animal studies, regardless of research field.
06/28/2017
Serious adverse events more common in women
The proportion of reports of serious adverse events was higher for women than men in Sweden in 2016, according to the Medical Products Agencys annual report (in Swedish). The number of serious reports for women was highest in the age group 18-64 years, while the corresponding number for men was in the age group 65 years and older. The most common substances in serious reports from healthcare staff were the anticoagulant drugs warfarin, apixaban and rivaroxaban.
06/20/2017
Men and women with psoriasis are treated differently
Data from the Stockholm County Council during the period 2001-2016 showed that men with psoriasis recieved more systemic drugs, biological drugs and light therapy than women. Read more in the latest issue of Evidens (in Swedish).
04/24/2017
New name – Janusmed Sex & Gender
The knowledge databases and decision support systems by the Stockholm County Council gather under a new name: Janusmed.
03/28/2017
Women dispense more melatonin
Dispensed prescriptions of the sleeping hormone melatonin increased during 2016 in Sweden and the largest increase was among adult women, according to new statistics from The Board of Health and Welfare (in Swedish).
03/27/2017
Reporting of sex and gender in clinical studies can be improved
Only a minority of scientific clinical studies take sex and gender into account when analyzing and reporting research results. The problem is highlighted in a viewpoint article published in JAMA and in a comment published in Lancet. The articles also suggest guidelines for reporting sex and gender in clinical studies.
12/20/2016
Information on 200 substances are now available
The knowledge bank now contain sex-specific information on anti-infective agents, sedatives, and drugs used in alcohol dependece. Also, the first document within the therapeutic area respiratory system has been published (salbutamol), and more are to come. See available substances here.
06/23/2016
Release of Sex, Gender and Medical Drugs in English
Here you can find information about sex and gender aspects of different drugs. Almost 200 substances within several therapeutic areas are included so far, and information about more drugs are coming. The English edition has been published for the benefit of interested international colleagues and institutions.
05/26/2016