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Objective: This review explores the theoretical background for and empirical evidence supporting gender-related differences in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamic properties of psychotropic medications. Method: The authors reviewed all English-language articles on this topic that involved original research using human subjects. Results: Limited evidence suggests that young women seem to respond better to and require lower doses of antipsychotic agents and benzodiazepines than young men. The administration of exogenous hormones interacts with medications, changing plasma levels and possibly conferring greater risks for toxicity. Young women may have an enhanced response to nontricyclic antidepressants. Conclusions: Too little basic and clinical research has been conducted on sex differences in therapeutic effects and side effects of psychopharmacological treatments. Addressing these differences as well as similarities will lead to safer and more effective treatment for all patients. (Am J Psychiatry 1992; 149:587-595)

Discusses how successful public health interventions have resulted in a shift in threats to the health of Americans. Need for increased attention to prevention strategies to reduce risk factors for chronic diseases and injuries that cause death; Health problems and diseases that commonly cause death, including obesity, diabetes, and cancer; Suggestion that Americans should remember the public-health lessons of the past and apply them to new health challenges by strengthening the public-health infrastructure.

Highlights some of 1995's most important health developments in the United States. Includes news on the reproductive health of women; Easier prescription for exercise; Discovery of leptin as a possible reducing agent; Medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Focuses on the risk factors and treatment of breast cancer. Link with increasing age and genetics; Exposure to hormone replacement therapy; Lifestyle, diet and environmental factors; Treatment advances; Vaccines; Chemotherapy; Breast implant radiation.

Presents news briefs related to health as of December 2000. Adverse effects of oral contraceptives; Signs and symptoms of male menopause; Mortality rate of women with autoimmune disorders.

Reveals that drinking alcohol lowers the fertility of a woman, according to a study of 430 couples between the ages of twenty and thirty-five who were trying to conceive a child for the first time. Percentage of the likelihood of pregnancy decreased in women who drink alcohol.

Provides information on a study conducted on the health benefits of calcium. Benefits of calcium to gum health; Effect of calcium on premenstrual symptoms.

Focuses on a study which suggests that the risk for lung cancer may be increased by smoking marijuana or cocaine, which appear to produce the same precancerous changes found in bronchial cells caused by tobacco smoking. Other side effect of smoking drugs.

Reveals that young broccoli sprouts contain the anti-cancer agent sulforaphane. Other health benefits of the sprouts.

Reports on a research which suggests that abnormal moles on a person's skin is a better predictor of melanoma that sunburns experienced in one's lifetime.

Reports that sleeping on weekends might sacrifice alertness on Monday. Disruption of the circadian rhythm due to the extra hours of sleep.

Cites findings by the National Runners Health Study on how women runners may tailor their workouts be able to target specific risk factors for heart disease. Possibility for women to increase their levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDLs); Heart benefits for women runners who take birth control pills.

Presents the findings of studies on health issues. Low-dose birth control pill to treat acne in women over the age of fifteen; Factors that may predispose women to early menopause; Discovery of an oral compound that fights against flu viruses.

Provides information on two health-related information services. Mammography listings available on the Internet; National Institute of Mental Health's Anxiety Disorders Education Program's toll-free information service.

Reports on the beneficial effects of chocolate and the harmful effects of a diet high in red meat to women. Association of red meat diet with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma; Presence of phenol, an antioxidant that guards against heart diseases, in chocolates.

Reports on the requirement imposed by the United States Food and Drug Administration on bread manufacturers to fortify bread and other grain-based products with folic acid to help prevent spina bifida, a neural-tube birth defect.

Reports on the results of the study conducted by the Harvard University showing that coffee does not increase the risk of coronary heart disease in women in the United States.

Reports on a study on the risks of heart disease in women with irregular work shifts.

Focuses on implications of two health studies reporting on the merits of strenuous exercise and fish-laden diets, for women. Absence of women subjects in the two studies.

Comments that the American Cancer Society announced that, contrary to previous studies, no definitive link can be found between the use of hair dyes and cancers. Minuscule risk in the use of permanent black hair dye over the course of at least two decades.