Imagine a healthcare system in which half of the population are largely ignored. Shockingly, this the reality of our contemporary healthcare system. Although healthcare is one of the greatest tools at humanity’s disposable, it is deeply biased against women, non-binary people and minority groups. Excluded, ignored and dismissed: women are only now being heard.
Only now, is humanity as a whole awakening to the gross injustices riddled within healthcare. Just a few steps down a timeline takes us into the 1800s when women’s medical issues were largely ignored and dismissed as hysteria. Many women’s bodies were in the clutches of endometriosis or other female reproductive issues that were unresearched and therefore ignored, at the time. Almost all doctors in the western world in the 1800s were male and generally had a poor understanding of women’s health issues. Hundreds upon thousands of women died at the hand of this injustice. Women and men are biologically different; their bodies express different symptoms and they do not always have the same requirements to stay in good health. However, this does not mean that the battle to equality is not more important than ever.
Throughout history, women have been absent in the design of studies and medical solutions, meaning that they are now living in a world built by and for men. Often, this was not anyone’s fault: in 1977, the FDA banned testing in pregnant women to avoid adverse side effects from treatments on the woman and the unborn baby. This was an understandable move due to the world still suffering from the shock waves of the tragedy caused by the drug thalidomide, which damaged unborn foetuses when taken by mothers for a purpose that it was not meant to be prescribed for. However, with 712,000 women giving birth in the UK in 2019 alone, it is vital that these women are involved in some testing processes in a safe manner to protect future mothers from the possible adverse effects a drug may have on themselves or their unborn child. The absence of so many women from the clinical testing scene meant that many healthcare professionals and researchers saw successful all-male research studies as adequate proof that a treatment was safe to use on women. Although this prediction has sometimes worked, they have regularly failed.
Despite men being more vulnerable to heart attacks (especially at younger ages) than women, heart attacks tend to result in less male fatalities. In fact, heart attacks in women under fifty years of age are expected to be twice as likely to result in fatality than in men. As odd as this sounds, there is reasoning behind this incongruous statistic. Large amounts of research have concluded that the symptoms of a heart attack include pain in the chest and left arm and sweating. On the other hand, women tend to experience nausea, breathlessness and often do not suffer from acute chest pain when suffering from a heart attack and many are therefore often told that they are not having a heart attack but are simply anxious. This is not usually the fault of the doctors; they are still life-saving heroes, but they are only as good as their training. Unfortunately, most general medical textbooks have almost three times the amount of medical imaging surrounding males compared to females, certainly giving medical students a skewed knowledge of what signs to expect for certain issues. Additionally, in ninety-five established medical schools across the USA in 2006, there were only two compulsory courses on women’s health. No wonder women are being misdiagnosed. No wonder women are being ignored. No wonder women are suffering.
Thankfully, there is progress. Today, the NHS website reads that in the case of a heart attack there may not be any chest pain at all, especially in women, showing clear evidence of efficient testing. Moreover, since 1993, the USA as made including women in clinical trials that are funded by the government into a legal necessity. There is an increasing appreciation for sex and gender in clinical trials, which will help to create a safer world for future women and men alike. However, we must not become complacent; there is still a long road to equality in front of us.
The future is looking a little brighter in regards to closing the gender pain gap, but it will not be diminished overnight and without hard work. Riddling these inequalities out of a sector as important as medicine will benefit everyone and save countless lives. There are still many hurdles to jump, but if we collaborate and appreciate, we will be able to accelerate to the finish line: to equality.
By Kareena Cooper.
References:
Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez.
