Bikini Medicine is the mistaken belief that women’s health only differs from men’s in the parts of the body that a bikini would cover. Of course, reproductive and breast health is critically important and frequently underserved, but women’s health is their whole bodies!

We unconsciously operate within the deep-seated, societal belief, that biological women are ‘smaller men’ with different reproductive organs. Of course, makes no sense when you take a conscious, scientific perspective. After all we know that (almost) every cell in our bodies is (usually) either XX or XY. And our whole bodies are influenced predominantly by testosterone OR oestrogen.

Which means men and women can experience diseases differently and treatments might work differently. #beyondbikinimedicine is simply asking everyone in health and life sciences to ask:

• Does the disease I’m interested in affect men and women differently?
• How will we bring this knowledge into our study designs and outcomes?
• Does the menstrual cycle, hormonal contraception, or the menopause affect the performance of our drug or health solution?

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Gendered medicine might be better for men and women – but unless we ask the questions, we’ll never know.

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Questions are a great start, but what then? Sign up to receive our emails to follow the story and play your part. Together we can change the world.

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Big thanks for reading. Bigger thanks for sharing.