Women’s healthcare is a segment of healthcare that is often overlooked and neglected by those in the medical world. The disparities women face when receiving medical treatment are incontrovertible. Unfortunately, the disparities faced by women and their healthcare have not just recently emerged but have historically remained prominent in the healthcare industry (Ream, 2024). 

In the past, many women’s serious outcries for medical attention were blatantly ignored as their health issues, were simply attributed to hysteria or overt emotion. Therefore, instead of being treated with care and medical urgency, they were given treatments such as enforced bedrest and other erroneous ‘band-aid’ solutions (Merone et al., 2022). In contemporary medicine, many are increasingly aware of the fallacy of the androcentric notion of hysterical women yet there are still misconceptions and disparities when viewing the etiologies and treatments for conditions such as endometriosis (Hudson, 2022).

Definition of…

Endometriosis is a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows in other places, such as the ovaries and fallopian tubes (NHS Choices). This tissue responds to hormones secreted during the menstrual cycle, which results in inflammation and possible scarring causing pain (Hudson, 2022). This condition can manifest itself in symptoms consisting of ‘chronic pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea (menstrual pain), dyspareunia (painful sex), dysuria (painful urination), dyschezia (painful defecation), metrorrhagia (mid-cycle bleeding), diarrhea, constipation, infertility, and myofascial pain, among others. (Ellis et al., 2022).

Endometriosis is notable for the aura of ambiguity and uncertainty that precedes it, with being deemed the missed disease (Hudson, 2022), with waiting list over 9 years for NHS. Although endometriosis impacts 190 million women of reproductive age globally, there is minimal knowledge regarding the etiology and epistemology of endometriosis.

The report, based on a survey of 4,371 people who have received a diagnosis, shows that 47% of respondents had visited their GP 10 or more times with symptoms before being diagnosed, and 70% had visited five times or more (Devlin and correspondent, 2024).

This ambiguity has allowed problematic ideologies to exist, such as in the 1900’s, endometriosis adopting the identity of a career women disease (Merone et al., 2022). This means those who had children later in life or neglected their child-bearing duties were believed to be more susceptible to endometriosis. These were grounded in blatant misogyny toward women, which acted as a catalyst for the growth of misconceptions surrounding endometriosis.

What can be learned from these cases of misconception and misperception is the evident lack of research poured into women’s health, which should be of utmost importance as previously men were being used to standardize medical procedures. A clear instance of this is the Yentl syndrome, which declares that for a woman’s illness to be taken seriously she must prove herself to be as unwell as a male counterpart (Merone et al.,2022). Without research, progress in the development of endometriosis drugs will remain stagnant thus furthering the gender disparities in healthcare. For instance, in 2022 only 0.038% of the NIH 2022 health budget went towards endometriosis when 190 million are affected by endometriosis worldwide (Ellis et al., 2022). 

However, there is still action to be taken to bridge the gap in women’s health. The new drug, dichloroacetate, may prove to be an effective non-hormonal and non-surgical treatment for endometriosis. Researchers from the University of Edinburgh have found that dichloroacetate was able to reduce the size of lesions, which could massively improve the treatment of symptoms of endometriosis (Peter, 2023). Although new treatments for endometriosis are overdue, the emergence of new procedures showcases that society is veering away from androcentricity in medicine. More women are being heard, thus allowing for previous misogynist views in medicine to be reformed.

References:

1. Devlin, H. and correspondent, H.D.S. (2024). Women in UK waiting almost nine years for endometriosis diagnosis, study finds. The Guardian. [online] 4 Mar. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/mar/04/women-in-uk-waiting-almost-nine-years-for-endometriosis-diagnosis-study-finds#:~:text=The%20study%20by%20the%20charity [Accessed 1 Jun. 2024].

2. NHS (2022). Endometriosis. [online] NHS. Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/endometriosis/ [Accessed 1 Jun. 2024].

3. Ellis, K., Munro, D. and Clarke, J. (2022). Endometriosis Is Undervalued: A Call to Action. Frontiers in Global Women’s Health, [online] 3(902371). doi:https://doi.org/10.3389/fgwh.2022.902371

4. University of Oxford (2023). Global study shows the experience of Endometriosis is rooted in genetics | University of Oxford. [online] www.ox.ac.uk. Available at: https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2023-03-14-global-study-shows-experience-endometriosis-rooted-genetics [Accessed 1 Jun. 2024].

5. Keller, E.F. (1982). Feminism and Science. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, [online] 7(3), pp.589–602. doi:https://doi.org/10.1086/493901.

6. Merone, L., Tsey, K., Russell, D. and Nagle, C. (2022). Sex Inequalities in Medical Research: A Systematic Scoping Review of the Literature. Women’s Health Reports, [online] 3(1), pp.49–59. doi:https://doi.org/10.1089/whr.2021.0083.

7. Peter, R.M. (2023). Five latest advancements in endometriosis research. [online] Labiotech.eu. Available at: https://www.labiotech.eu/best-biotech/endometriosis-research-latest-advancements/ [Accessed 1 Jun. 2024].

8. Ream, M.F. and M. (2024). Women’s health, and why 51% are overlooked so often. [online] Integrated Care Journal. Available at: https://integratedcarejournal.com/womens-health-why-51-overlooked/ [Accessed 1 Jun. 2024].

Written by Ayanfe O.

Moderated by Joanna