Usually, when someone starts talking about the scientific differences between men and women, they're trying to make the point that women should be barred from doing something. Take, for example, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's numerous comments about the infeasibility of women in combat because they would be uncomfortable in foxholes. And it makes for great reading. If our physicians' knowledge is based on research that is, in turn, based on skewed data, our health could be in danger. For instance, Hales points out that the symptoms for a heart attack in a woman differ vastly from those a man would experience.
Men generally feel crushing heart pain when they're going into cardiac arrest.
Women, on the other hand, more often experience shortness of breath and feelings of weakness. Women are more vulnerable to strokes and Alzheimer's disease. Men are more vulnerable to cancer and heart disease. Hales also treads into the realm of mental health, daring to explore why women are more vulnerable to depression then men, including brain chemistry differences, the way a woman's body metabolizes alcohol, hormones, sensitivity to light and temperature and exposure to traumatic events. But the book's greatest moments are when its author isn't comparing women to anything.