The Stream

Bias in biology

The Stream examines how the gender gap in medicine affects women’s health.

Does your sex impact how you’re diagnosed and treated by the doctor? It’s entirely possible. Heart disease is a great example. It’s the number one killer of women, more deadly than all forms of cancer combined, but females are far less likely to be referred for cardiac procedures, because they demonstrate symptoms completely differently than men. The National Institutes of Health in the US recently announced $10 million in grants to study female biology, but is that enough? Where does the gender gap in medicine begin, and what impact is it having on women? 

On this episode of The Stream, we speak with:

Dr. Florence Haseltine @SWHR
Founder, Society for Women’s Health Research
swhr.org

Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum @DrSteinbaum
Director, Women’s Heart Health, Lenox Hill Hospital

Dr. Jeannette Wolfe @WolfeJeannette
Emergency medicine doctor

What do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.