While menopause may be on the rise in public awareness (although, perplexingly, 41% of UK medical schools do not have menopause as a curriculum requirement), women’s health Many areas of healthcare suffer from information gaps for both clinicians and patients. According to the Women’s Health Strategy survey, only 8% of respondents feel they have access to sufficient information about gynecological conditions such as endometriosis and fibroids. And moving away from symptoms to basic anatomical details, one 2017 study found that nearly half of women don’t know what a cervix is. “They don’t know their bodies, and we don’t tell them about their bodies,” Griffin says.
Too often, women are told that their symptoms are “normal” when what doctors really should say is “common”. “Instead of saying this is happening, how can we make it better? We said this is just happening, this is normal.” Feeling neglected and not getting a chance to discuss how the symptoms are impacting their lives, they are leaving the GP. “The impact from the conversation is completely lost.”
Part of the problem is that many doctors still don’t know about the female body. Women suffer from a variety of misconceptions, including the erroneous belief that the menstrual cycle can skew outcomes, the perceived risks to fertility and fertility among women in their 20s and 30s, and the increased cost of incorporating another population. It has been excluded from clinical trials for a number of reasons. and/or participate in medical research. In the past, researchers have assumed that what works for men should work for women too, but of course that doesn’t always work. For example, consider the US sleeping pill Zolpidem. Zolpidem is released more slowly in women than in men, so it still affects women the morning after taking it. A high-profile driving accident raised awareness of the problem, prompting the FDA to adjust the dosage for women.
So how do we close the many gender gaps in health care? The UK government’s Women’s Health Strategy calls for a reproductive health experience survey every two years and a has set out a number of forward-looking ambitions and actions, including investing £2m ($2.48m) in a randomized controlled trial of Effectiveness of surgical interventions compared with non-surgical interventions for managing chronic pelvic pain in women. However, many recommendations, however well-intentioned, are vague, difficult to implement, and difficult to measure.
Meanwhile, a wave of new companies is filling the gap, always driven by founders’ frustration with the alarming lack of available options and information. Take The Lowdown, the world’s first contraceptive reviews, advice and prescribing platform. The platform aims to provide insightful, community-driven experiences on over 100 contraceptive methods, not just his GP prescriptions in general. Alternatively, Juno Bio, a vaginal microbiome test, is “on a mission to close the gender health gap” by providing personalized results on vaginal microbes that give women control over their fertility and a wide range of health conditions. I have a loss,” he said. Alternatively, Maven Clinics are virtual care platforms that provide comprehensive care for those planning, birthing and raising families, providing all members with a dedicated “care advocate”.
