Men respond better to some pain killers (paracetamol), while women respond better to some opioids

 We know that women experience more chronic pain than men, but are less likely to get treatment. We also know that men respond better to some pain killers (paracetamol), while women respond better to some opioids.

Professor Jeff Mogil of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, thinks this is because men and women process pain differently, something which we should take into account when designing new drugs. Until now much of the basic research has been done with male animals, but he foresees a time when new drugs will be created which are targeted specifically at men or women.

"There's lots of drug development going on and if any of those drugs ever make it to the market and get approved, my expectation will be that they will work in one sex and simply not work in the other sex", he says.

So perhaps we'll be seeing pink pain killers for girls and blue ones for for boys..