Women live more years in ill-health than men, finds gender health gap study

[Diamond_Dog]

This is pretty depressing ….

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Women live longer than men but experience more years in poor health, according to a global gender health gap analysis that experts say underlines an urgent need for action to boost women’s health.

Globally, there are substantial differences between women and men when it comes to health, with limited progress in bridging health gaps over the past three decades, according to the study examining the impact of the world’s 20 leading causes of disease.

The findings were published in the Lancet Public Health journal.

Non-fatal conditions that cause illness and disability, such as musculoskeletal problems, mental health issues and headache disorders, particularly affect women, researchers found.

At the same time men are disproportionally affected by conditions that cause premature death, such as cardiovascular diseases, respiratory and liver diseases, Covid-19 and road injuries.

The health differences between women and men continue to grow with age, leaving women with higher levels of illness and disability throughout their lives, as they tend to live longer than men.

More

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/may/01/women-live-more-years-ill-health-than-men-gender-health-gap-study

[mopinko]

1. how much of that is cuz docs just dont listen to women?

sounds like the exact things that docs miss when it’s a woman talking.
and sounds like me rn. nothing threatening my life, just stuff that makes me miserable.
my melanoma was treated quickly. my diverticulitis, not so much. 2 trips to the er in recent weeks. got great care and big antibiotics the 1st time. 2 wks later, when i was still in a lot of pain i went back. wasnt in a crisis, but know how long the op system takes v how quick things happen in the er. i was not willing to wait weeks and weeks for every test/appt. this is urgent.
they repeated tests, which got worse. wbc higher, despite ab’s, rbc dropping. and liver inflamed, likely from ab’s.

i know how this stuff works, so ate/acted to minimize the pain. it’s less frequent, but just as bad.
well, i looked and felt fine for the several hours i sat there and actually got shamed for using the mostly empty er to get care quicker. but i got the urgent gi referral, which was my goal.
urgent means i have an appt in a month. i’m on the ‘hot list’, but i suspect that my informed management of my symptoms will mean i wait the whole month. the part where it’s sucking up most of my life to do it is not in my favor.

i think they just assume that if the pain is bad enough to bring a man to the er, it must b a crisis. but a woman w a thick med file like me must just b a whiner. they didnt even ask about pain meds. they gave me 10 norco 1st time, but i didnt take them. they didnt even ask me what i was taking, or did i need more. i took 1 for the 1st time that day. think i told them that. but they didnt see me cryin, so they assumed.
i’m sure if i’d asked, they’d have assumed i was just drug seeking.
women’s pain is ignored more often than not.

[Diamond_Dog]

2. I'm so sorry you had to go through that.

Your last paragraph is very true. If the pt is a woman either it’s all in her head or she’s a whiner. I’m not saying every time of course, but I saw it happen often with my mother.

[58Sunliner]

3. My experience has been awful at times.

I went to the ER thinking I may have Covid-heart rate was 118 sats were dropping a little and the dr did not even give me an EKG. Got a chest X-ray, and had to ask for something to calm me down and bring down my heart rate. I wasn't feeling well at all. My blood test was supposedly normal except my glucose was a little high and my WBC's were high. I had some ketones noted. I was treated like I was making a big deal when my heart rate kept creeping past 100 and went to 141 when I moved around and was talking. I asked the nurse for a different dr. Dr comes in again, I tell her I have this pressure on my left side. The dr who was a younger female kept trying to say I was dehydrated. I told her I had a degree in nursing and one in respiratory therapy and I knew my symptoms were not simply dehydration. I pointed to the monitor and said that is tachycardia. Even the nurse acted like I was a drama queen telling me i should go home and relax. WTF?? They wanted to release me. Next thing I know I'm getting a chest scan. I had pneumonia which did not show on the x-ray, I assume. WTF. The thing is my brother went to the same emergency ward with a history of VT and got excellent care, just one day earlier. Nobody told him to go home and relax or treated him like a med seeker.

[Diamond_Dog]

4. It is infuriating

that a woman doctor would treat a woman patient that way. That had to be beyond frightening, I’m so sorry.

[58Sunliner]

5. Thanks. If I didn't know better, I could be dead.

I just hope my experience shows women to ask for a second opinion if they think they are being dismissed, the life they save may be their own. They kept talking down to me, like I was a child. I am writing a letter to complain about it.

[Diamond_Dog]

6. I was about to ask you if you were going to file a complaint.

Good for you!! I hope it opens some eyes.