Gender bias in medicine and medical research still jeopardizes women’s health

International Women’s Day celebrates women’s achievements and raises awareness of their ongoing mission towards gender equality. So keep in mind that gender prejudices in medicine and medical research need to be corrected for decades and centuries.

It’s no secret that men and women are different. That’s why there are so many books and jokes that “men are from Mars and women are from Venus.”

Mental, physical and biological, men and women are not simply constructed in the same way. Sounds obvious, but we’re just starting to really understand why.

These differences are not accurately reflected in the medical field. Women’s health is too often seen as a niche area, despite the involvement of about 50% of the world’s population.

Not well studied and not well diagnosed

What we know is that being a woman puts us at higher risk for some of the most difficult conditions. For example, autoimmune diseases affect about 8% of the world’s population, 78% of affected people are women..

Women are three times more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than men and are four times more likely to be diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (an autoimmune disease that attacks autoimmune diseases). central nervous system..

Women make up two-thirds of people with Alzheimer’s disease and are three times more likely to have a heart attack than men.Women can suffer at least twice as much Chronic pain condition Fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic Lyme disease, etc.

As the author Maya Duzenbury revealed in her book, “Harm“These conditions are often under-studied and often undiagnosed and untreated.

Different genders, different symptoms

Heart disease is another example of gender, or perhaps sexism, still a major determinant. Women are less likely to experience the “classical” symptoms of a heart attack. This is a symptom found in a male-led study where most of the participants are male.

The most common of women heart attack Like men, the symptoms are chest pain and discomfort.But women are more likely to experience some than men Other common symptoms, Especially shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, back and jaw pain.

However, many women experience delays and misdiagnosis because diagnostic methods still support male biology.

On average, women are diagnosed with the heart disease 7 to 10 years later Than men. This often leads to the spread of other chronic illnesses by the time of diagnosis.

Male prejudice affects clinical research

It is not clear why women are so overrated under some conditions.But Genetics and hormones Factors may be involved.But historically Medical research In many cases, women are excluded.

In 1977, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended excluding women of childbearing age from clinical studies. This was to protect the next most “vulnerable” population, the foetation. Thalidomide scandal..

Another reason given to exclude women in Clinical trial That is, depending on where the woman is in the menstrual cycle, her hormonal changes “complex” the outcome. This volatility means that more subjects are needed in clinical trials, which increases costs.

The male-only study was justified by the belief that what works for men works for women. This false assumption had devastating consequences.

Every cell in the human body has a gender. This means that the illnesses and drugs used to treat them have different effects on women-often at the expense of their health, as we have learned.

8 out of 10 Of the medicines excluded from the US market between 1997 and 2000, they were withdrawn primarily or exclusively due to side effects that occurred in women. Between 2004 and 2013, American women 2 million drug-related adverse events, Compared to 1.3 million men.

When to end gender inequality

The lack of awareness of gender differences in biology and medicine is a major problem that research has recently begun to correct.

In 1997, the FDA issued a rule requiring manufacturers to provide evidence of how medicines are safe and affected by age, gender, and race.

when Last measured depth In 2016, it was clear that women had made significant progress. Occupy about half Participants in several clinical trials funded by the National Institutes of HealthNIH (National Institutes of Health) (# Add parentheses when first appearing if there is no character limit).

Scientists now need to explain the possible role of sex as a biological variable in both animal and human studies.

But lack of funds for FemaleHealth is still a big issue.According to before Analysis from the UKLess than 2.5% of publicly funded research was devoted to reproductive health.yet One in three women suffers From reproductive or gynecological health problems.

This means that about 16% of the population will experience problems that receive only 2.5% of their annual research budget. Policies are in place to address large gender disparities in medicine, but there is clearly a long way to go.

This article will be republished from conversation Under a Creative Commons license.Read Original work..