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Do gender and puberty influence allergic diseases?
Cristine Secco Rosário1, Cristina Alves Cardozo2, Herberto José Chong Neto3
1Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, Federal University of Parana, Parana, Brazil; cristinerosario@hotmail.com.
Insights
Biological sex and gender identity significantly impact allergy prevalence, with lifelong female predominance observed after puberty due to hormonal and lifestyle factors. Understanding these differences is crucial for allergy diagnosis and treatment.
Area of Science:
- Allergology and Immunology
- Sex and Gender in Health
- Public Health
Background:
- Biological sex and gender identity influence health, impacting disease prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment.
- Allergic diseases like asthma, allergic rhinitis (AR), atopic dermatitis (AD), and allergic conjunctivitis (AC) exhibit varying prevalences and risk factors influenced by sex and gender.
- While boys show higher allergy rates in childhood, a lifelong female predominance emerges post-puberty.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the impact of biological sex and gender identity on the prevalence and risk factors of allergic diseases.
- To highlight the need for incorporating gender-related aspects into allergological diagnostics and therapeutics.
- To underscore the scarcity of sex- and gender-specific data beyond adolescence.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on sex, gender, and allergic diseases.
- Analysis of prevalence data and risk factors across different age groups and sexes.
- Discussion of potential influencing factors such as sexual hormones, lifestyle, microbiota, diet, occupation, and treatment adherence.
Main Results:
- Allergic diseases show different prevalences and risk factors in infancy, with a shift towards female predominance during sexual development.
- Factors like sexual hormones, lifestyle, diet, and treatment adherence contribute to sex- and gender-based differences in allergy prevalence.
- Current research on sex- and gender-specific aspects of allergies in adults and beyond age 14 is limited.
Conclusions:
- Sex and gender are critical parameters for diagnostic and therapeutic stratification in allergology, alongside molecular, genetic, and epigenetic factors.
- Further longitudinal studies are needed to elucidate the mechanisms behind sex- and gender-based prevalence differences in allergies.
- Additional research on allergic multimorbidity, particularly in adult populations across diverse ethnicities, is essential.
Abstract:
Differences between biological sex, gender identity, and their impact on health may have significant implications for the prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment of several diseases, including allergies. Asthma, allergic rhinitis (AR), atopic dermatitis (AD), and allergic conjunctivitis (AC) have different prevalences and different risk factors in infancy. Although boys present allergies more often in childhood, it quickly changes during girls' sexual development, leading to lifelong female predominance of allergic diseases. This can be explained by the influence of sexual hormones, different lifestyles adopted by men and women, microbiota diversity, diet distinctions, professional options, and adherence to treatment, among others. Gender-related aspects should become essential parameters in allergology to diagnostic and therapeutic stratification, associated with molecular, genetic, and epigenetic patterns. Longitudinal studies would be interesting to evaluate possible mechanisms underlying these differences in prevalence. Sex- and gender-specific observations beyond 14 years of age are scarce and further allergic multimorbidity studies in different populations, especially in adults, are necessary.
Related Concept Videos
01:27Signs of Puberty
01:20Asthma: Pathogenesis and Management
Asthma is classified as allergic and non-allergic. Allergens such as dust mites, pollen, and pet dander trigger allergic asthma, while factors like cold air, intense emotions, or exercise can induce non-allergic asthma.
01:30Socioemotional Experience and Gender Development
01:29Asthma-I: Introduction
02:06Allergic Reactions
01:26Asthma-II: Pathophysiology and Classification
Additionally, environmental and genetic factors play crucial roles in determining an individual's susceptibility to asthma and the severity of their condition.
Critical processes in asthma pathophysiology include: