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Theme Issue on Men's Health
Call for Papers
Phil B. Fontanarosa, MD, MBA;
Helene M. Cole, MD
JAMA. 2006;295:440-441.
Gender-based medicine—specifically recognizing and understanding differences in the health of men and women—drew much attention in the 1990s. The National Institutes of Health's Office of Research on Women's Health was established in 1990.1 The inclusion of women (and minorities) in clinical trials in sufficient number to allow analysis of differences in intervention effect became public law when Congress made this provision part of the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 (Pub L No. 103-43).2 With seemingly similar purpose, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a guideline in 19933 that emphasized the importance of including both men and women in clinical trials evaluating new medications, and in 1994 the FDA created an Office of Women's Health.4 Over the past decade, there has been a dramatic increase in the quantity and quality of research devoted to examining numerous aspects of women's health such that today, women's health research is most definitely mainstream.5
With women's health on an increasingly stable base scientifically and politically, a new focus on men's health has emerged. The Men's Health Act of 2005, which would amend the Public Health Service Act to establish an Office of Men's Health within the Department of Health and Human Services, was introduced in both the US House (HR 457) and Senate (S 228) in February 2005.6 In 2004 a new journal, the Journal of Men's Health and Gender, was launched, with editorial goals "to inform, educate, encourage debate and engender innovation in treatment and preventative medical care within the discipline of men's health and gender-specific medicine."7 Randomized clinical trials8-9 and prospective studies of men's health continue to elucidate mechanisms of disease and risk factors amenable to modification.10-11
While decades of research have yielded many clues about health and disease in men, this new knowledge has not necessarily resulted in all the benefits that might be expected. There are at least several possible reasons for this. For instance, men are less likely than women to seek medical care and are nearly half as likely as women to pursue preventive health visits or undergo screening tests.12 Moreover, despite ubiquitous public health messages about the importance of a healthy diet and regular exercise, the prevalence of overweight and obesity in men continues to increase, with recent data indicating that 68.6% of men aged 20 years and older are overweight.13 Also of concern is that life expectancy for men continues to trail that of women, with life expectancy for men shorter by 5.3 years in 2003.14
To increase awareness of and reinvigorate interest in the unique health concerns and priorities of men, and to enhance understanding, improve clinical care, and help set health policy goals, JAMA will publish a theme issue devoted to the topic of men's health in November 2006.
We invite authors to submit manuscripts on virtually any topic that is relevant to men's health. High-quality original research papers, especially randomized clinical trials, that present new scientific information to enhance understanding of disease processes in men or therapeutic advances for common disorders will receive highest priority. Observational studies, systematic reviews, and scholarly commentaries on important topics relevant to the understanding and improvement of the health of men are also welcome.
Topics of interest include the major diseases and conditions affecting men, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, stroke, alcoholism and drug abuse, and psychiatric disorders. Investigations examining conditions of aging, such as osteoporosis and arthritis, the effects of declines in testosterone, sexual function, and infertility, and the effects of personal and workplace stress on health are also of interest. Cutting-edge studies reporting results of research exploring the genetic, genomic, and biomolecular aspects of male health and disease, as well as papers describing findings from basic science and translational research investigations that provide novel insights about the underlying pathophysiology of how diseases affect men, will receive careful consideration, as will manuscripts reporting outcomes of interventions to improve preventive health habits and to encourage the adoption of a healthy lifestyle.
We look forward to receiving manuscripts on a wide variety of topics on men's health. Authors are encouraged to consult the JAMA Instructions for Authors15 for guidelines on manuscript preparation and submission. All submitted manuscripts will undergo JAMA's usual rigorous editorial evaluation and review. Manuscripts received by June 1, 2006, will have the best chance of consideration for the men's health theme issue.
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Financial Disclosures: None reported.
Editorials represent the opinions of the authors and JAMA and not those of the American Medical Association.
Author Affiliations: Dr Fontanarosa is Executive Deputy Editor (phil.fontanarosa{at}jama-archives.org) and Dr Cole is Contributing Editor, JAMA.
REFERENCES
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1. Office of Research on Women's Health Web site. Available at: http://orwh.od.nih.gov/index.html. Accessed December 19, 2005.
2. Inclusion of women in research. Office of Research on Women's Health Web site. Available at: http://orwh.od.nih.gov/inclusion.html. Accessed December 19, 2005.3. Participation of females in clinical trials and gender analysis of data in biologic product applications. US Food and Drug Administration, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. Available at: http://www.fda.gov/cber/clinical/femclin.htm. Accessed December 19, 2005.4. US Food and Drug Administration's Office of Women's Health Web site. Available at: http://www.fda.gov/womens/reports/2005briefing.html. Accessed December 19, 2005.5. Pinn VW. Women's health research: prescribing change and addressing the issues. JAMA. 1992;268:1921-1922.
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6. Men's Health Act of 2005. Available at: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c109:1:./temp/~c109qxJ7Ba::. Accessed December 19, 2005.7. Aims and scope of the Journal of Men's Health and Gender. Available at: http://www.jmhg.org/english/aims_engl.htm. Accessed December 19, 2005.8. Thompson IM, Goodman PJ, Tangen CM, et al. The influence of finasteride on the development of prostate cancer. N Engl J Med. 2003;349:215-224.
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9. D’Amico AV, Monala J, Loffredo M, et al. 6-Month androgen suppression plus radiation therapy vs radiation therapy alone for patients with clinically localized prostate cancer. JAMA. 2004;292:821-827.
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10. He K, Rimm EB, Merchant A, et al. Fish consumption and risk of stroke in men. JAMA. 2002;288:3130-3136.
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11. Malinski MK, Sesso HD, Lopez-Jimenez F, et al. Alcohol consumption and cardiovascular disease mortality in hypertensive men. Arch Intern Med. 2004;164:623-628.
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12. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. AHRQ focus on research: issues in men's health care. Available at: http://www.ahrq.gov/news/focus/menshc.htm. Accessed December 22, 2005.13. National Center for Health Statistics. Overweight, obesity and healthy weight among persons 20 years of age and over. In: Health, United States, 2004, table 69, page 241. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus04trend.pdf#069. Accessed December 23, 2005.14. Life expectancy hits record high: gender gap narrows. CDC National Center for Health Statistics press release, February 28, 2005. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/05facts/lifeexpectancy.htm. Accessed December 23, 2005.15. JAMA Instructions for Authors. Available at: http://jama.ama-assn.org/ifora_current.dtl.
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