Sex and Gender Aspects in Vascular Ageing – Focus on Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, and Outcomes - 28/09/21
for the
Sex and Gender VascAgeNet Expert Group
Abstract |
Sex and gender are important modifiers of cardiovascular system physiology, pathophysiology, and disease development. The atherosclerosis process, together with the progressive loss of arterial elasticity with age, is a major factor influencing the development of overt cardiovascular, renal, and cerebrovascular disease. While differences between women and men in epidemiology and pathophysiology of vascular ageing are increasingly reported, sex-disaggregated data are still scarcely available for prospective studies. A better knowledge of sex differences in physiological ageing as well as in disease-related changes in vascular ageing trajectories is crucial to avoid misdiagnosis and mistreatment. This review presents key concepts and knowledge gaps identified in vascular ageing due to gonadal function, vascular physiology, pathophysiology, psychosocial factors, pregnancy, and prognostic relevance. Gender roles determine the effectiveness of any cardiovascular preventive strategy and acceptance for non-invasive or invasive diagnostics and therapeutics. Gender differences in health behaviour, also due to sociocultural norms conditioned by society, contribute to behaviours that may lead to premature arterial vascular ageing. These include differences in risk behaviours like smoking, diet, exercise, and in stress, but also conditions such as housing, noise pollution, poverty, disability, and any kind of stigmatisation.
The VascAgeNet Gender Expert Group aims to advance the use of non-invasive vascular ageing measures in routine clinical settings by providing facts to fill in the gaps concerning sex and gender differences at each step of this process, and to search for solutions.
Le texte complet de cet article est disponible en PDF.Keywords : Sex and gender, Vascular ageing, Arterial function
Plan
This paper is based upon work from the European COST ACTION-Network for Research in Vascular Ageing CA18216 supported by COST, European Union (European Cooperation in Science and Technology, European Union) and endorsed by the German Society of Gender Medicine (DGesGM). |
Vol 30 - N° 11
P. 1637-1646 - novembre 2021 Retour au numéroBienvenue sur EM-consulte, la référence des professionnels de santé.
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