Biomedical research is biased towards male biology, according to a study at the Universitat Jaume I



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## Biomedical research is biased towards male biology, according to a study at the Universitat Jaume I

21/12/2016 |
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* [![ biomedicina_sexe biomedicina](/com/investigacio/arxiu/noticies/2016/9/biomedicina_sexe/biomedicina.jpg)](#)

Carla Sanchis-Segura, researcher and lecturer at the Department of Basic and Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology in the Universitat Jaume I, has coordinated, together with the researcher Jill Becker from the University of Michigan, a special issue of the journal Addiction Biology, which warns that biomedical research in general, and addictions in particular, are decanted into male biology, since it is based "excessively" in preclinical studies in males and clinical trials in men.

Sanchis-Segura states that the current model of research in the field of health has shortcomings because, first of all, “it does not study 50% of the population, women”, and for that reason “chances of finding alternative therapeutic solutions are lost”. “If a disorder or disease has a greater impact on one sex, we can consider that the other sex is protected; thus, by studying the differences between them, we can find new therapeutic strategies to reduce or improve the situation of the unprotected sex”, says the researcher at the Universitat Jaume I. In fact, “we should remember that medicines often have more side effects for women due to this gender bias in research”, added the lecturer from the Department of Psychobiology.

The article written by Sanchis-Segura and Becker, which opens this particular issue, also delves into the study of the differences between men and women in biomedical research and warns, for example, that not all are equal, providing a classification system, and that the most important differences are linked to reproductive processes. On the other hand, it is essential to describe both sex and gender differences and similarities, which are much more abundant. In fact, “the emphasis on finding differences between both sexes and its disintegrated presentation can lead to misleading reductions that feed the misconception that the research on sex differences promotes inequality between men and women”, argues Sanchis-Segura.

**WOMEN, MOST VULNERABLE TO ADDICTION**

In the field of research on drug addiction, differences between men and women are also relevant. First, according to Carla Sanchis-Segura, men have a higher probability of starting the consumption of drugs, both legal and illegal, by a social component linked to gender. Still, “the effects of drugs on women are larger, on the one hand, due to the metabolic differences that make the female body remove them slowlier. Thus, women are “most at risk of developing clinical problems, such as dependency or addiction but, on the other hand, they seek professional help for their treatment more frequently and rapidly than men," concludes the lecturer.

Carla Sanchis-Segura is a researcher and lecturer at the Department of Basic and Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology in the Universitat Jaume I, where she teaches the subjects Fundamentals of Neuroscience and Developmental and Sexual Behaviour Psychobiology. Her research has focused on the study of the processes of drug consumption and addiction and, more recently, on the interactions of sex and gender in different areas of development and health.

Sanchis-Segura, C.; Becker, J. (2016). «Why we should consider sex (and study sex differences) in addiction research». Addiction Biology. Mar 31. DOI: 10.1111/adb.12382

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