Women’s Health needs a reboot with more inclusive health research.
Northwell Health’s Raise Health Forum says that healthcare must take steps to address women’s specific needs by acknowledging sex and gender are key factors in health outcomes.
The underrepresentation of women in clinical trials was noted as a huge issue, due to the fact that sex can have an effect on variables like drug dosage or side effects, but are not researched.
Biological differences that increase a women’s risk of some diseases were also noted:
[we need to] become aware of the differences of women and how they are represented in trials
“One of the things we need to do is become aware of the differences of women and how they are represented in trials,” said Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association.
So what can be done?
Janine Clayton, director of the Office of Research on Women’s Health at the National Institutes of Health, said there was a need to put sex and gender front of mind in healthcare.
From a scientific perspective, it creates more rigorous and reproducible research
“From a scientific perspective, it creates more rigorous and reproducible research. From a personalized care perspective, it creates more individualized care for each and every patient. And from a healthcare system perspective, it’s more efficient, and it provides better value.”
