Prioritize Your Health: Women often advocate for others, but also must think of their own care
Women are often caregivers for others, whether it be their children, parents or spouse. For many, this means their own health care is delayed or not prioritized. In addition, women may have difficulties finding care that meets their specific needs.
These factors put together have consequences. Delaying checkups and screenings, for example, may mean conditions are left undiagnosed and not treated as early as possible.
“So often, women are taking on the role of advocate and caregiver for others, but they must not forget to do the same for themselves,” says Katie Schubert, president and CEO of the Society for Women’s Health Research. “If we don’t care for ourselves, we aren’t able to care for others.”
Research Gap
While women must advocate for themselves, other challenges include a historic gender gap in the health care system, including in options, education and research, says Schubert.
Until about 30 years ago, says Schubert, medical research focused solely on men. This exclusion was often based on a fear that research including women would be inaccurate due to hormone levels and menstruation patterns.
“Women were not viewed as much different than tiny men when it came to health, so any conclusion found for men was considered applicable to women as well,” she says. “We know these things to be untrue, but their impacts remain.”
Schubert notes heart attack symptoms as an example. For men, a heart attack may present as an uncomfortable pressure or squeezing of the chest. But for women, the pain can be different, radiating or non-radiating, and research shows more than 40% of women say they did not experience chest pain during a heart attack. Providers must consider the differences when making a diagnosis.
This also plays out in funding.
Schubert cites the funding allocated for research about endometriosis as an example. In 2022, the National Institutes of Health budget allocated $2 per patient annually for this research. Endometriosis impacts about 11% of women between the ages of 15 and 44.
In contrast, diabetes research — which impacts a similar number of women, but also men — received $31.30 per patient per year.
“This gap has impacted medical education, research funding and treatment innovations,” says Schubert. “With women historically left out of medical research and education, some providers might not know what they don’t know when it comes to women’s health.”
Moving Forward
Including more women in all levels of scientific research and in the medical field is one step toward addressing the gap, says Schubert.
“Women may feel more confident or find it easier to join a trial if those running it look like them,” she explains. “Women may be more comfortable opening up about symptoms if their care provider looks like them. Women may be more interested in coming in for follow-up appointments if their medical staff looks like them.”
It is not uncommon, Schubert says, for women to seek out several providers and appointments before having a condition properly diagnosed. She stresses “the power of a second opinion,” and that a different provider should be sought if questions aren’t being answered.
“Look for providers that answer your questions clearly, make you feel comfortable, and function as a trusted health care advocate,” she says. “It may be helpful to ask friends and family if they have trusted providers, or to visit patient advocacy search tools and lists as references when seeking new providers.”