Oh baby, I'm hot. Science, do something!
Women continue to get snubbed in healthcare, so we keep shvitzing.
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Being female requires a warrior mentality. Especially when it comes to health. We make up more than half of the population. And yet, medical research focuses on men, then assumes the results are the same for women. But, we are not the same. Can’t they see that? It’s certainly not very scientific.
We outlive men by more than five years in America. As people move into their 70s and 80s, women outnumber men by significant margins. In spite of the lack of research, we still live longer because we tend to take better care of ourselves than men. We get our preventative tests, like colonoscopies, mammograms, etc. And, we don’t do dumb stuff like this. 🙄
It’s a fact that women have never been treated fairly, not only in the workplace, but also when it comes to our health. From the Washington Post, this article is worth reading. (I removed the paywall) It pissed me off… and it will make you mad, too. “Older women are being significantly shortchanged by medical research”.
Medical research has ignored women for years, especially older women. “It’s assumed that women’s biology doesn’t matter and that women who are premenopausal and those who are postmenopausal respond similarly,” said Stephanie Faubion, director of the Mayo Clinic’s Center for Women’s Health.
Our doctors have little solid information to use when managing our particular health needs. That damned estrogen needs to be factored in when it comes to the effectiveness of drugs. Here are a few takeaways:
Dementia: “Women experience the loss of estrogen, a hormone important to brain health, with menopause.”
Heart disease: Heart disease becomes far more common after menopause and kills more women than any other condition.
Mental health: Older women are more vulnerable to depression and anxiety. There are variety of factors, including hormonal changes and the cumulative impact of stress, that contribute to this. “How does the menopausal transition impact mood and stress-related disorders?”
Bone health: “Osteoporosis, which causes bones to weaken and become brittle, is more common in older women than in older men, increasing the risk of dangerous fractures and falls. Once again, the loss of estrogen with menopause is implicated.”
Last year, the Biden administration launched a new effort called the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research. Another reason to vote for Joe.
Now… back to my hotness. 😂
The current heat wave in the mid-Atlantic, while stifling, has nothing to do with my shvitzing. Now that I’m a woman of a “certain age”, I’m flashing more than a cop car at a crime scene.
Ah, back in the day, when we just suffered in our long gowns. 🥵
It’s like swallowing a hot piece of charcoal… I gradually tingle from the inside out, breaking into a drippy sweat on my forehead, the tops of my hands and feet. I soak through t-shirts while I’m trying to sleep. When I have a glass of wine or a cup of coffee, I burst into flames. 🔥 Then I shiver. It’s utter bullshit.
My doctor told me about a new drug called Veozah… read all about it here. It’s a non-hormonal prescription medicine used to reduce moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms (hot flashes and night sweats). Yet, imagine my surprise when, even with my insurance, it would cost me $249.50 a MONTH. WTF? Unless you’re a wealthy woman, I don’t see how this is an affordable solution, especially since my medicine cabinet has actual lifesaving, expensive drugs that keep me breathing.
Yeah, Big Pharma needs money for research, I get it… but in my view, patients are suffering from their up front price gouging.
Somebody get me a fan and a cold beer.
It was easy for me when I was a young, white guy to pass off the treatment that non-young, non-white, non-guys got when they went to health care professionals.
At age 38, I married a woman 13 years older than I and it began to come very clear where the disparity in treatment came, even with the very same doctors we went to.
It took more than a year to convince even female doctors that she had a possible heart condition requiring some type of action. When they finally decided to do a perfunctory procedure (more as an ass-covering measure to satisfy their malpractice attorneys than as real medicine), they discovered that she needed triple bypass surgery and raced her through the procedure.
Even her female OB/GYN treated her like she was belly-aching each time she complained until she discovered that she had a prolapsed bladder.
My wife will soon turn 88 and we were fortunate that the Primary Care Physician decided to recommend her for home hospice care two years ago. She had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2018. After eight months of some of the best care she ever had (thanks mostly to it being female nurses providing the care), she was discharged from home hospice and with the help of a retired nurse visiting three days a week, I am able to provide the care she needed all along. She still has dementia, but she is much stronger physically and still has a sense of humor that made me fall in love with her 36 years ago.
Ladies, if you can't do it yourselves (as my wife no longer can do), find someone to advocate for you and find medical professionals who will listen. They seem to be increasing in numbers, but far too slowly.
Are you sure big pharma just need big houses? 🤣 my hot flashes are all in my back. Like sitting in a heated seat in 90 degree weather 🤣 black cohosh I think helped me. It’s never been too bad. Thanks for the info