HEALTH GAPS FOR WOMEN

Do you know what the leading cause of death for women is worldwide? Chances are you don’t. If you are like many people, you probably answered breast cancer — and you would be wrong.

One in three women will die of heart disease or a stroke. The most prevalent type of heart disease in women has no proven treatment.

Nine in 10 women have at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and yet it is often misdiagnosed, a three-day summit on women’s heart health heard last week. And while symptoms of a heart attack and stroke differ between men and women, the lack of awareness about heart disease in women points to a larger, more alarming issue: dangerously little is known about women’s health.

Why does this matter? Because healthy women tend to be better educated, earn more and require the use of fewer health and social services. There is also a correlation between a woman’s overall health and her likelihood of living below the poverty line.

Until the 1970s, women were excluded from most medical studies. In the United States, researchers were not required to include female patients in government-funded drug trials until the 1990s. There is still little health research specific to women. The result is a persistent blind spot, for doctors and patients alike, where women’s health is concerned.

Little is understood about how men and women experience illness differently, which symptoms differ, how female patients metabolize drugs and which side effects they might experience. The scientific community has made efforts to close the gender gap in research over the past 20 years, but hasn’t had much success. It doesn’t need to be this way. Some groups have taken matters into their own hands and should be looked to as role models in how to take control of a medical narrative. It is a testament to the effectiveness of the pink ribbon campaign that breast cancer awareness has eclipsed awareness of most other women’s health issues.

Since the 1980s, groups like the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, the Weekend to End Women’s Cancers and Gilda’s Club have worked tirelessly to bring breast cancer out of the shadows and to the forefront of mainstream health consciousness.

In the span of one generation, women have become educated about breast cancer: they know the risk factors and are empowered to voice their concerns.

Breast cancer research has also become a fundraising-rallying cry — some argue to the detriment of all other women’s health issues.

Women’s health issues extend far beyond breast cancer and they should be the focus of thorough interdisciplinary research.

In short, we can do better.