7 f*cked up facts about women's health I can't get over
This is your Modern Hysteria listicle for June 28, 2024
Getting diagnosed with PMDD — premenstrual dysphoric disorder — in 2022 quite literally changed my life. My husband, who happens to be a physician, brought home with him from a night shift a thick stack of papers he printed out from a medical database.
“I think you have this,” he said.
He was right. Two years and thousands of dollars later, I have more joy and peace (and less pain) in my life than I thought was possible, AND I marvel at how confusing and mysterious the world of women’s health is.
For example, from that stack of medical literature I learned that one of the diagnostic criteria for PMDD is first being misdiagnosed with borderline personality or bipolar disorder. 🙄
Like most conditions that disproportionately affect women, PMDD is under-researched. Because, hi, we live in a patriarchy and women’s bodies are valued for their appearance and not their wellness.
So, here’s your listicle for this week:
F*cked up facts about women’s health I can’t get over
1️⃣ Women spend 25% more of their life span than men in “poor health.”
The women’s health gap tells us that women spend, on average, more than 9 years in poor health and 25% longer in “debilitating pain.”
Is it because 78% of people in America with an autoimmune illness are women?
2️⃣ Erectile dysfunction is studied up to 5x as often as premenstrual syndrome (PMS).
We don’t even really know how little menopause is studied because the NIH doesn’t track research funding for it, though it affects roughly half the population.
Also: Viagra has been found to be extremely effective at getting rid of all menstrual symptoms with zero side effects (when applied as a cream), but it doesn’t get prescribed because it hasn’t been studied in women.
3️⃣ Women are largely excluded from US drug trials, but have adverse drug reactions 52% more often than men.
Yet it was the norm to only test drugs and vaccines on men until 1993.
… and women DIE from or have serious drug reactions 36% more often. We NEED to know how drugs affect people’s bodies differently; it could literally be the difference between life and death.
“Research shows that many of these diseases affect women differently, specifically, predominantly.”
— Carolee Lee, founder and chief executive of Women’s Health Access Matters (WHAM).
4️⃣ It takes women 4+ years longer than men to be diagnosed with more than 700 diseases.
This may be because, though women tend to carry more of the burden of diseases, the conditions which disproportionately affect women — anorexia, endometriosis, migraines — get a fraction of the funding.
For example, only 5.9% of Canadian Institutes of Health research grants in the past decade have gone toward studies with female-specific outcomes.
5️⃣ 25-37% of women are believed to live with pelvic dysfunction.
Yet, how many women do you know who saw a pelvic floor therapist before, during, or after childbirth?
6️⃣ It wasn’t legal for women to breastfeed in public in all 50 states until 2018
I have no words for this one.
7️⃣ Less than half of medical schools have women’s health curricula.
… and only 7% have interdisciplinary courses in women’s health. No wonder so many women feel dismissed or invalidated by their providers.
What can we do about it?
Donate to WHAM — Women’s Health Access Matters — to help fund research and access to women’s health initiatives.
You’re so right. I can’t tell you what the feelings are for us when you found what was the cause. A mixture of relief and concern. Concern for you. Hope for the healthy life you should have.