Women comprise over half of the U.S. population; yet, until
1993, approximately zero percent of government-funded medical
research was required to examine the way many different ways in
which women and men are affected by illness, medicines, chemicals,
treatments and more. For too many years, medical recommendations
were based on the assumption that male bodies are the model body.
Now, Ketchum has been enlisted to help the FDA Office of Women's
Health change this.
Although two decades have passed since it was mandated that
women and minorities be included in medical research, a recent
study revealed that "the science that informs medicine - including
the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease - routinely
fails to consider the crucial impact of sex and gender."
How does this medical research disparity impact women? It means
- for example - that the symptoms and risk factors we typically as
sociate with heart attacks are actually those experienced by men,
not women. It means that although women are at greater risk for
depression, female lab animals are included in less than half of
the depression and anxiety studies; male lab animals are included
in five times as many neuroscience scientific studies. It means
that each year, we lose more women to cardiovascular disease than
any other cause, yet only one-third (31%) of clinical trials for it
include women.
Thanks to a greater push for diverse women in clinical trials,
we've gotten closer to understanding how sex differences exacerbate
the risk of developing Alzheimer's. We've learned that certain
treatments for lung cancer - which claims more women's lives than
breast, ovarian and uterine cancers - are more successful for women
than men. Men and women originally were prescribed the same doses
of Ambien, but after learning that some women taking it would wake
up and go about their activities the next day still under the
influence of the drug, the FDA halved the recommended dose for
women.
The examples of success are plentiful, but the need for more is
greater. Women - particularly of diverse backgrounds - are still
needed to enroll in clinical trials in greater quantities, and
Ketchum's new charge is to help make this happen. Our work to
support the FDA's Office of Women's Health in this effort could
mean better health outcomes for our coworkers, mothers, aunts,
sisters and wives.
Reposted with permission from
Ketchum Diversity Digest - Originally posted on March 14,
2016