Sex differences in clinically diagnosing Lyme
By Linda on Oct 30, 2010 in Infections
Full article: http://www.prohealth.com/library/showarticle.cfm?libid=15636
Excerpt:
Results: In a total of 125 patients, there were no significant differences in clinical presentation by sex.
The initial self-misdiagnosis rates for men and women were 10% and 18%, respectively (P = NS).
Among the 62 patients with a serologic test as part of their clinical evaluation:
• 50% of men had a positive, 2-tier result
• Compared with 32% of women (P = NS).
Among the 41 patients with a positive ELISA, median ELISA values (3.4 vs 2.0; P = 0.03) and median number of immunoglobulin G (IgG) bands (4 vs 2; P = 0.03) were significantly higher among men.
Conclusions: In this small, retrospective sample, we found evidence for sex-based differences in the magnitude of ELISA and IgG serologic response to early Lyme disease.
Such differences could have implications for appropriate diagnosis, treatment, and disease classification.
Larger, prospective studies are needed to replicate the results found in this study and to examine their relationship to sex-based immunologic variability.
Source: Gender Medicine, Aug 2010;7(4):320-9. PMID: 20869632, by Schwarzwalder A, Schneider MF, Lydecker A, Aucott JN.The Lyme Disease Research Foundation of Maryland, Lutherville, Maryland, USA.
