The not-so-average 70 kg man

I welcome Steuernagel and colleagues’ review of sex and gender bias in cardiovascular research1—a poignant article to follow reports of sexual offences rife among surgical teams.2 The volume of gender bias among research, clinical guidelines, and our working lives is becoming increasingly apparent.It is, however, hardly surprising. In our first years at medical school we are taught the physiology, pharmacology, and anatomy of the “average 70 kg man.” Certitudes that are later reinforced through postgraduate college exams. From spirometry to total body water distribution, pharmacological volumes of distribution to nutritional needs, we are taught to recite facts and figures based on this supposed standard. An “average” that excludes 50% of the population by sex, no doubt under-represents ethnic minorities, and, quite frankly, no longer exists. In 2021, the average weight of a UK man was 85 kg and of a woman 72 kg.3The under-representation of women and ethnic minorities will…
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