Although much has been done in healthcare to close the gap, women still experience disparities in health outcomes among men. But these gaps tend to be lined with a mix of biological, social, and economic factors that affect women’s health throughout their lives. In this article, the women’s health gap is explored in six conditions that define this gap, prompting interventions and awareness for this very gap.
The health gap is most glaring in reproductive health. Women have conditions like endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and fibroids, but they disproportionately go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed for years. For example, endometriosis affects about 10 percent of women of reproductive age and typically is not diagnosed until after 7 years. Such delay can cause chronic pain, infertility, and mental distress.
Such an app like a fertility tracker has been common among women looking to better understand their reproductive health. These tools can help you discover irregularities in menstrual cycles and ovulation patterns, giving your doctor more time to intervene and treat you earlier. Yet, such technologies are not available equally: to women in lower socioeconomic brackets or from rural areas.
In many parts of the world, heart disease is still the leading cause of death for women. This alarming statistic, however, is also research that women often get less aggressive treatment for similar conditions than men do. Gender also can affect the symptoms of heart disease; while men often have classic chest pain, women may have symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath, or nausea.
In addition, women are frequently excluded from clinical trials of cardiovascular drugs, and therefore they do not receive tailored therapies designed specifically for them. The lack of research on gender will only perpetuate the inadequate care cycle, and we need a gender-sensitive approach to cardiovascular health.
There are also disparities in mental health. Women more so than men have anxiety disorders, depression, and other forms of mental health issues. The increased vulnerability is the result of factors: hormonal fluctuations, societal pressures, or even trauma experiences.
There is also a barrier to access to mental health services. Stigma, lack of resources, culturally based barriers, and the experiences of women from marginalized communities may weaken a woman’s ability to access adequate care. And then, COVID has exacerbated these issues: Many women say that as a result of caregiving responsibilities and job loss they were experiencing increased levels of stress and anxiety.
Autoimmunity is particularly common in women, for conditions such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis are more common in females as compared to males. Even so, research on these diseases has historically been male-centric and there has been a paucity of understanding of how they affect women.
For example, lupus affects women at a ratio of approximately 9:1 compared to men. However, many healthcare providers may not know the specific symptoms and difficulties women with this condition experience. Diagnosis and treatment need improvement, and that requires increased awareness and research focused specifically on female presentations of multiple sclerosis.
Many people associate osteoporosis with old age but in fact, it affects most women after menopause when estrogen levels decline. Weakened bones and an increased risk of fractures are the result of this condition. Unfortunately, many women remain unaware that they are at risk until their fracture.
An important way to avoid bone problems is to take in a lot of calcium and vitamin D as well as do some weight-bearing exercises. Yet despite education and resources regarding how to prevent osteoporosis, not all women receive this unless they have the means to.
In recent years, maternal health has become the focus of women's health because of increasing mortality rates in some countries. These disparities disproportionately affect women of color, who are more likely both to be pregnant and to give birth in the United States.
Poor maternal health outcomes are influenced by factors such as lack of access to quality prenatal care, increased systemic racism in healthcare systems, and other neighborhoods surrounding places that provide this care. These issues face a multi-faceted response which means making policy changes, providing community support programs, and increasing access to health care services.
This is a tough problem with lots of issues related to women's health that reflect many other social inequalities. These disparities expose just how important it would be to target the many reproductive health issues and maternal death rates that women suffer from. Raising awareness and advocating to close the health gap will build awareness and ensure that all women get the care they so deserve.
These six conditions are not a matter of women’s health alone; they are issues that shape the kind of society that allows every person to live without discrimination and see their life inaccessible to bias. We need to make women’s health a priority now: It’s time for change.
