Being a Woman: A Risk Factor for Many Diseases

This article was exclusively written for The European Sting by Ms. Lucía Barriuso López, a last year medical student from Burgos city, Spain. She is affiliated with the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), cordial partner of The Sting. The opinions expressed in this piece belong strictly to the writer and do not necessarily reflect IFMSA’s view on the topic, nor The European Sting’s one.

Although historically overlooked, it is fortunately gaining more recognition the fact that woman worldwide experience a lower quality of life due to both social and clinical factors. In order to understand this matter, it needs to be approached from different perspectives.

First of all, women’s health problems have traditionally not been adequately addressed. Most research efforts have been focused on men, assuming that the findings could be directly applied to women. This could not be further from the truth, as men and women exhibit many biological differences, such as hormonal cycles and body composition. This situation led to the implementation of primarily tested on men drugs, leaving women in a vulnerable position and resulting in more adverse effects due to the lack of evidence regarding the optimal dosage regimen. Another example is the high rate of misdiagnosis of cardiac arrest in women, as symptoms are not well defined by the scientific community yet, often described as ‘atypical’. 

Many organic diseases are frequently understudied, misattributing their symptoms to psychological factors such as anxiety or depression. While it is true that women are at higher risk of developing psychiatric illnesses due to social factors, it is a mistake to assume that every symptom will be related to this. Back in the 19^th century hysteria, coming from the Greek word for uterus hystera, was a term used to describe many organic and psychiatric disorders in women that were causing behavior alterations. This theory attributed the behavioral disturbances to a wandering uterus. Though this discriminatory and gender biased theory is not supported any more, the term hysteria still persists in the scientific community. 

Diseases that affect women are generally less researched and have fewer treatment options. Endometriosis or polycystic ovary syndrome affect around 1 out of 10 women but its mechanisms and optimal treatments are still not well known. Most gynecological illnesses have the same recommended intervention: birth control pills, a very extended medication that can cause severe adverse effects such as thrombosis or psychiatric disorders. There is a widespread belief among some gynecologists that diseases which only affect the patient’s quality of life and do not increase mortality are not as relevant and do not require as much attention.

Summarizing, women are globally not treated equally to men in the healthcare system, leading to a higher risk of illness, suffering and death. This risk is even greater for transgender, obese, disabled or racialized women. While changes have already been achieved and more women are becoming doctors and scientists, paving the way for a brighter future, it is imperative to intensify efforts toward true gender equality.

About the author

Lucía Barriuso López is a last year medical student from Burgos city, Spain. As part of the Associació d’Estudiants de Ciències de la Salut (AECS) and the International Federation of Medical Students Association (IFMSA), she has been engaged in several awareness and outreach projects in relationship with public health, human rights and gender equality. She has developed a passion for medical knowledge spreading, research and prevention, three essential but hidden aspects of medicine.