Advancing Women's Neurological Care: Integrating Sex and Gender in Neurology

About this Research Topic

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Background

Women's neurology is an evolving field dedicated to incorporating sex and gender considerations into neurological education, research and care. Despite some progress, in North America, there are currently only three Women's Neurology fellowship programs and a limited number of neurology residency programs offering electives in this domain. In Europe, no such programs exist.

The inconsistency in Women's Neurology education across training programs often leads to gaps in care and preparedness among practitioners. A consortium of neurologists has thus developed a Women’s Neurology Curriculum for the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), covering sex- and gender considerations in Headache, Cerebrovascular Diseases, Demyelinating Diseases, Epilepsy and Neuromuscular Diseases. In addition, there is now growing evidence that hormonal shifts throughout females’ lives may influence the prevalence, severity and progression of Neurodegenerative Diseases. This is of particular importance now, as the global population is aging and neurodegenerative diseases are emerging as a major public health concern.

This Research Topic aims to:
-Identify gaps in knowledge and training in North America and Europe regarding the influence of sex and gender on neurologic disorders.
-Address gaps in care for women with neurologic disorders across their lifespans
-Define research priorities by identifying the unmet needs of females with neurological disorders and proposing actionable strategies to address these gaps

Neurology Residents frequently report feeling insufficiently prepared to treat women across different hormonal stages. Here, we report on the state of education and clinical care for women with neurological disorders across two continents: North America and Europe. Coupling the AAN Women’s Neurology Curriculum and the INSIGHT network's webinar series, this collection seeks to provide a consolidated, comprehensive, and evidence-based overview of hormonal epochs and their unique influence on neurological disorders, ultimately intending to improve care standards.

Notably, while sex- and gender-related influences have increasingly been addressed in research and education in fields such as epilepsy, headache, cerebrovascular disease, and demyelinating diseases; neurodegenerative disorders have remained largely underexplored in this regard. This collection also aims to address this important gap and highlight the emerging evidence on sex- and gender related aspects of neurodegenerative disorders, with a special focus on Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer Dementia.

This research topic seeks submissions of original research and review tackling the following
key themes:

-Identifying the current state of women’s neurological care
-Understanding hormonal epochs and physiology at each life stage
-Highlighting neurological specialties and diseases influenced by hormonal changes, with a special focus on emerging evidence on the impact of hormonal shifts on neurodegenerative diseases
- Socially-determinated gender-related aspects in research, education and management of neurological disease
-Reviewing diagnostic and treatment approaches with a sex and gender-focus
-Opportunities for improving resident education in women's neurological care
-Establishing Sex- and Gender-Considerate Clinical Research in Neurology

Keywords: women's neurology, sex and gender, hormonoal shifts, oral contraceptives, hormonal therapy, menopause, headache, epilepsy, demyelinating disease, neuromuscular disease, neurodegenerative disease, parkinsons disease

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