Docs slam 'band-aid' fixes for 'period disease'

Before 1993, you typically wouldn’t see a woman involved in a clinical trial. Put simply, women’s bodies just weren’t a priority in science—viewed as somehow atypical. Men’s bodies were considered the default, or the “norm.”^[]

This has led to all sorts of consequences. One being that “male-favored diseases are significantly more likely to be overfunded and female-favored diseases more likely to be underfunded,” according to authors writing in Health Equity.^[] And we’re still playing catch-up today. 

Frustrating diagnostic delays

American women experience 7 to 10 years’ delay waiting for an endometriosis diagnosis.^[] Reasons could include misdiagnosis or simply being ignored. One patient told HuffPost that she saw gynecologists, gastroenterologists, emergency physicians, and general practitioners—all of whom “dead-ended my pursuit for relief,” she says. It took her years before she was officially diagnosed with the often-debilitating disease.^[]

@mathildebarker In utter shock right now - I am so happy to finally have an answer #endometriosis ♬ original sound - Mathilde Barker

Iris Kerin Orbuch, MD, a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and Director of the Advanced Gynecologic Laparoscopy Center of Los Angeles and New York, says this diagnostic delay comes down to outdated education in residency, unhelpful imaging, and limited time during patient visits. 

“Endometriosis is often incorrectly thought of as a ‘menstrual disorder,’ when in fact, it is a systemic, inflammatory disease that causes a whole host of symptoms,” she explains. “When patients present to a primary care doctor, gastroenterologist, urologist, or pediatrician, those physicians are not thinking of endometriosis because they were taught that endometriosis is a ‘period disease.’”

An issue of compliance?

Richard Reitherman, MD, PhD, board-certified radiologist and Medical Director of breast imaging at MemorialCare Breast Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA, says there are also delays in diagnosing breast cancer as well—especially in women of color.  

Reasons, he says, include guideline confusion and socioeconomic factors—and physicians play a role in this. “Research over time shows that there are many reasons that both physicians and women are not being compliant with guidelines,” Dr. Reitherman says. 

There are plenty of official authoritative sources that publish recommended guidelines for screening mammography, he says, but the information isn’t always disseminated accurately.

He also says that issues like losing paid time off work, lack of child and elder care, or critical domestic duties can get in the way of completing a screening mammogram. That’s why, he says, it’s so important “physicians should be up to date with guidelines for diagnostic and screening evaluations.”