Time for a Change

Historically women have been excluded from important rooms and important conversations. We have fought tooth and nail to get where we are but one area that still requires reform is healthcare. That exclusion of women throughout history has led to systems of healthcare and medical research which has been made by men for men. For example, drug development centers around male subjects meaning that the dosage levels are set by metabolism in the male body. It has been clearly established that mane and women often have differences in how they metabolize substances, think alcohol, so why would male metabolism be used as the standard for medications? This standard has led to dosage levels that are incorrect for female patients. Ambien was the first drug to correct this when a study found that the dosage prescribed for Ambien was far too high for women, and that it is safe/efficacious for women to be taken at a lower dose. 

It is alarming that for decades women have been taking medications that were not properly vetted for them but it is also alarming that not much change has seemed to happen. Female subjects need to be included in medical research for drug development. This also applies more broadly to research centering around diagnoses and treatment plans. Women exhibit diseases and medical issues differently than men, but once again the standard revolved around the male experience. An example here is heart attacks which do not look the same in women and therefore can go undiagnosed or not be caught until later. This male focused view in healthcare is incredibly dangerous and causes a disparity in the care of women. 

Additionally, I believe that this goes another direction as well, which is in terms of white patients and those of color. Once again, healthcare research has been widely focused on white individuals but people of color often have different symptomology or may metabolize medications in different ways. This is often not taken into account when developing drugs or therapies for diseases which leads to further disparities in healthcare with people of color at a disadvantage. Overall healthcare systems and developmental research need reform and to be more inclusive, otherwise women and people of color will not be treated the way they should be.