Women of Wearables (wearables, health tech & femtech)’s Post

Globally, 78 percent in women’s heart attack symptoms go unrecognized, according to Canada’s Heart and Stroke Association, and only one percent of healthcare research and innovation in 2020 went towards female-specific conditions beyond oncology, according to a report by global management consultancy McKinsey. Gender disparities in healthcare also significantly impact the diagnosis of autoimmune diseases in women, partly because of bias in medical research; but also because of the easily dismissible nature of some of those diseases’ symptoms. “Inclusion of only one gender in trials can pose risks to another,” says Karen Kamel, regional managing director at McCann Health. “For instance, if drug safety, dosage, and study symptoms are based only on male subjects in clinical trials, real-world applicability among women could have a different result.” Kamel points to the Thalidomide tragedy of the late 1950s and early 1960s as an example of the devastating impact of such exclusion. Initially developed as a sedative, the drug was marketed primarily as a treatment for anxiety, insomnia, and morning sickness in pregnant women. However, women – particularly pregnant women – were excluded from clinical trials. “It was not until years later that the link between Thalidomide and fetal development abnormalities was made public, by which time over 10,000 babies had been affected by the drug worldwide,” explains Kamel, who notes that the majority of clinical trial studies continue to primarily recruit men. According to research published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology in 2022, women accounted for less than 34 percent of participants in industry-sponsored clinical trials. This disparity is mirrored across the board. https://buff.ly/3PbBsmA #womenshealth #femtech #healthtech #digitalhealth #healthcare #healthcareinnovation #startups #innovation #health #medtech #healthcareresearch #femalehealth #genderhealthgap #reproductivehealth #venturecapital #vc #funding #investment #grants #maternalhealth #periods #menstruation #sexualhealth #sextech #menopause #fertility #pregnancy #postpartum #eggfreezing #IVF #healthequity #pelvicfloor #pelvicfloorhealth #hormonehealth

It's time to close the medical gender gap

It's time to close the medical gender gap

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