For many years, women have been underrepresented in U.S. healthcare. Before 1993, women rarely featured in clinical trials for medications. That’s although they’ve outnumbered men since 1946. For a fairer healthcare system, things need to change.
Our study looks at the male-centric state of U.S. healthcare, the often dire permutations for women, the changes that have been made, and the changes that still need to be made to serve women’s health properly.
The Healthcare System: Designed for Men
The U.S. healthcare system is freighted more towards men’s than women’s needs, with the male body considered the default basis for medical tests.
Study data shows that, because of this bias, women run a greater risk of misdiagnosis, undertreatment, and preventable harm – with the medical field still relatively unfamiliar with the female body.
Male and female bodies are fundamentally different in many key aspects; so physiological, metabolic, hormonal, and even cellular differences can alter how diseases present.
This has permutations regarding the effectiveness of pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Because of a lack of a broad sampling of women in healthcare, there has been very little assessment of the effect of medications and other interventions on women – with women twice as likely as men to suffer from adverse effects from medications.
And a female stereotype – that women are more ‘emotional’ than men – has compounded a broad misunderstanding of female pain. Such attribution has meant that some pain is more likely to be misunderstood as psychosomatic and mood-based, while chronic conditions are misread, belatedly diagnosed, or missed altogether.
Our analysis of National Library of Medicine study data confirms that many women often feel invalidated, depressed, helpless, and mistrustful of medical representatives.
More than one in three women have reported that their healthcare concerns were dismissed by a healthcare provider, with nearly half saying they felt their provider did not fully acknowledge their concerns during an appointment. This lack of trust has, in turn, led to women’s reluctance to attend health appointments.
With such neglect and misrepresentation prevalent, women still only comprise around 40% of clinical trial participants, and female mice are often avoided in medical studies due to a fear of hormonal fluctuations leading to ’complex’ and ‘skewed’ results, medical research continues to be compromised. And women often look elsewhere for their health advice – including on social media.
Why Women Turn to TikTok for Health Advice
TikTok is far from just a frivolous app for kids: for women, it can offer a vital lifeline. A National Institutes of Health study showed that 65.5% of TikTok users had intentionally used the platform to find health information.
It’s not just the quick and easy access to health information it provides – it’s also a great way to connect women with other women who share similar circumstances. The Internet can provide a wide social network and a comforting personal connection, and while mistrust and gender bias in healthcare prevail, online support will continue to represent a huge resource for women.
And yet, women’s reliance on TikTok for relatable stories and quick health tips comes with serious risks. Much of the app’s content, although it may be professionally presented and seem trustworthy, isn’t created by medical professionals.
So, misinformation can spread quickly. And, National Institutes of Health study data also reveals that 92.4% of TikTok users unintentionally received health information or advice.
Following unverified medical advice can lead to misdiagnosis, delayed treatment, and deteriorating health. It’s certainly best to follow up on a health tip spotted on social media by speaking to a licensed healthcare provider.
The Terrible Toll a Male-Centric System Takes on Women’s Health
Heart disease is a huge problem in the U.S., with someone suffering a heart attack every 40 seconds. Heart disease is a particular problem for over-65s, with 39% of men and 27% of women suffering the illness.
However, important distinctions can be made regarding the gender experience of the disease. For example, women are less likely to suffer chest pain during a heart attack. They may instead experience symptoms such as indigestion, dizziness, lack of sleep, and pain between their shoulder blades. Women are also 50% more likely than men to be misdiagnosed after a heart attack.
The same problem applies to stroke. Our analysis of Northwestern Medicine data reveals that each year in the U.S., 55,000 more women than men have strokes. However, women’s symptoms can differ from men’s.
Whereas women experience ‘classic’ stroke symptoms such as numbness, speaking difficulties, and dizziness, they also (unlike men) experience hiccups, nausea, chest pain, fatigue, bodily weakness, shortness of breath, and cognitive issues. These atypical symptoms mean that strokes are often misdiagnosed in women.
The issue is compounded by the fact that women are 3 times less likely to appreciate the potential seriousness of said symptoms and fail to seek potentially crucial care.
Diabetes affects 14.7% (38.1 million) of the nation’s over-18s – 15.4% of men and 14.1% of women. Yet, women are more likely to experience complications and side effects such as depression, anxiety, heart disease, kidney disease, and even stroke if they have type 2 diabetes.
Our analysis of National Library of Medicine data suggests that women are also usually diagnosed with diabetes later than men – often too late to prevent the development of severe metabolic and cardiovascular risk factors. Women with diabetes are also more likely to develop poor blood pressure and cholesterol control.
Women are more susceptible than men to chronic pain conditions like fibromyalgia, temporomandibular disorders, and migraine. Study data emphasizes the fact that women report more frequent, widespread, and enduring pain compared to men, even when they experience the same condition.
onetheless, women’s pain is more likely to be considered an exaggeration, or misinterpreted as purely psychological. And, often, women’s pain is inappropriately and over-abundantly medicated.
The Overmedication of Women
Women are more regularly prescribed medication than men. And yet, our analysis of a Science Direct study reveals that women are 50%–75 % more likely than men to suffer medication-related side effects.
In fact, between 1997 and 2000, 8 medications were removed from nationwide circulation due to their dire effect on women:
Some of the complications these medications cause women include lower heart rates, irregular heartbeats, heart disease, and liver failure. Such inappropriate medical prescriptions contribute to the 1.3 million people who visit the emergency room every year due to adverse reactions to drugs.
Historically, men have been the default medical test subjects, with only 26% of early test participants female; concerns over hormones, pregnancy, and data variability have led to women’s exclusion. Yet, even now, many trials don’t categorize data by sex, so responses that might be useful to female health are missed or misunderstood.
Medical devices and drugs are often designed and cultivated for male bodies, with little or no consideration given to the anatomical or hormonal variations in women.
Pregnant and breastfeeding women seldom feature in safety studies, despite often needing medication, which denies healthcare providers the data they need to guide treatment decisions. An established ‘one-size-fits-all’ medical model means more overdosing, side effects, and inappropriate and potentially harmful care for women.
Our analysis of World Economic Forum (WEF) data suggests that the global gender health gap results in a remarkable 75 million years lost every year due to illness or premature death.
To put that into perspective, if this gap were closed, it could give the world’s 3.9 billion women an average of around seven more healthy days each year—500 extra days over every woman’s lifetime.
There’s also a considerable financial downside. As well as so many precious years of life potentially saved, bridging the gap could add $1 trillion to the global economy by 2040. That’s due to better women’s health enabling a significantly more productive female workforce.
The Need for Female-Specific Medical Research
To protect women’s health, the medical community must deliver sex-specific research and more inclusive clinical practices. This means equal representation of women in clinical trials and biomedical studies, irrespective of age, race, or hormonal stage.
Data should be sex-specific to confirm differences in symptoms, drug responses, and disease progression. Healthcare professionals should undertake continuous training that teaches how conditions manifest differently in women; this is particularly crucial for high-risk issues like heart disease, chronic pain, and autoimmune disorders.
Personalized medicine, better and more thorough communication around symptoms, and less diagnostic bias can mean earlier detection, more accurate diagnoses, and safer, more effective treatment for women. More accountability, improved medical guidelines, and more female-centric research funding can revolutionize healthcare and properly serve women.
Here at Pegasus Legal Capital, we’re highly conscious of the disparity between male and female healthcare, and some of the devastating consequences of poor medical treatment.
Our lawsuit funding can help you manage expenses before you receive a settlement payment for personal injury, so get in touch if you think we can help.