Why there isn’t more research on women’s incontinence experiences.
Let’s Talk About It: Incontinence and Representations of Women in Science!
Western medicine is incredible. Advanced in technology and medicines have been life changing!
Yet the knowledge we have on almost half of the population, 49%, is not equally studied and represented in medicine. Female bodies are different. As Dr Stacy Sims says, “women are not small men”, and we are underrepresented in medical studies and science using both humans and animal research participants.
“For much of documented history, women have been excluded from medical and science knowledge production, so essentially we’ve ended up with a healthcare system, among other things in society, that have been made by men for men.” - Dr. Kate Young, Public Health Researcher Monash University in Australia.
Females have been included in medical practice for centuries, including back to ancient Egyptian times. The first US female doctor graduating medicine school in 1849. Dr Elizabeth Blackwell had been turned away by over 10 schools before disguising herself as a male to complete her studies. Despite the female presence in medical practice, scientific knowledge and medical studies have been in denial of the physiological differences between male and female bodies. With the endocrine system being discovered in the early 1900’s, the beginning thought was that the uterus was the primary perpetrator of female illness, and all other organs would function the same as a male. It was not until the 1980’s that this thought was starting to change with more studies in exercise science showing different responses to exercise between female and male bodies.
One of the main reasons that females have not been as studied in medicine and science is due to the changes that occur in the female body due to changing hormone cycles. The hormonal changes in female menstrual cycles, perimenopause and post-menopause phase of life have an impact on other body systems as well. We are not small men; we are different depending on the hormone levels we have on any given day. This makes it more difficult and requires more patience in researching body processes and interactions, extra patience that is not always given in studies when it is easier and faster to just study males.
The social construct around these hormonal changes shapes the experience that individuals in our society have as they navigate these changes. In other cultures where female hormone changes are seen as freeing, or a new chapter of life, they have less reports of the commonly negative associated symptoms such as hot flashes and mood changes. In the Mayan and Japanese cultures, they don’t even have a term for “hot flash” in their languages. As women age in these cultures they’re gaining a more respectful place in society. In our Western world the menstrual cycle is seen as a “curse”, and women in the post-menopause phase of life are seen as “no longer sexy” [it’s not true, we’ve been lied to!].
The male focus in medicine is also ingrained in the medical training. In a survey at the Women in Medicine Conference from the Canadian Medical Association in 2020 of physicians and medical studies, 77% of them experienced gender inequality in their training, with 99% of them saying the inequality left a negative sense of well-being. In 83% of these reports, there was no policy in their workplace to support females in medicine. Not only are female patients feeling under supported, but our females working in medicine do as well.
Knowledge is power, and the more we can discover about female body’s unique changes, the better we can support, love, and nourish our bodies through these changes.
These hormonal shifts, along with other human experiences such as incontinence are often seen as taboo, even within the medical world. With an estimated less than 40% of individuals experiencing incontinence reporting it to a doctor or nurse, and even less than that opening the conversation if they’re experiencing incontinence related to bowel movements. The lack of conversation about incontinence in the medical realm, and in society has made it a very taboo topic.
Our cultural views and societal dialog around this topic can also change an individual’s experience with it. With World Continence Awareness beginning in June 2009, there is now a space and more platforms opening the conversations around incontinence to help break down the shame, and negative impacts on self-esteem from this human experience.
This week is World Continence Awareness week. It is important that we open-up the discussion on incontinence as there are lifestyle habits, hormone balancing tips, and various treatments available to help you be supported, and live your best life.
Resources
https://statisticstimes.com/demographics/world-sex-ratio.php#:~:text=Gender%20ratio%20in%20the%20World&text=The%20population%20of%20females%20in,101.68%20males%20per%20100%20females.
https://www.ics.org/public/wcw
https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/celebrating-10-women-medical-pioneers
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/13/the-female-problem-male-bias-in-medical-trials
Dr Stacy Sims Menopause Athletes course
Next Level, Dr Stacy Sims
