What I learned from Women About Women’s Health

In the last few weeks, I have been deeply influenced by women doing outstanding work in and beyond healthcare and systems transformation. Here are a few of the lessons I learned (with links to the articles I wrote).

For the Vision Health Pioneers Incubator newsletter, I explored the Women’s Health Gap. Millions of women are being misdiagnosed, and their illnesses are often not taken seriously by physicians. The doctor told my grandmother that what she felt wasn’t anything serious. She died a few months later in the hospital.

Prompted by the tragic loss of her dear mother due to a misdiagnosed heart condition, Petronela Sandulache Plaz founded her organization CorDiFio Health to create awareness around heart diseases? — and how their symptoms are oftentimes expressed differently in men and women. In our interview she told me: “We have the power in our hands to take care of our own health and the health of our loved ones. Why don’t we just do it?”??????

80% of drugs are withdrawn from the market because they cause negative symptoms in women. The reason? Women are generally not included in clinical trials, and medication is often tested on male subjects only.?

As with many women’s health issues, there’s still a lot of taboo surrounding pelvic floor dysfunction. I interviewed the founders of femtech Yeda tackling this health issue.? “People don’t talk about it”, states co-founder Anna Maria Ullmann . “It’s just being hushed about because it’s a topic of shame. I had no idea, even though I’m a woman, that every second woman is affected. I had no idea that one of my best friends was affected because she never mentioned it.”

Co-founder Yair Kira adds that “gynecologists themselves often lack awareness about available treatments, contributing to a gap in knowledge.” My partner Rūta ?em?ugovait? had a similar experience with her gynecologist. She visited her with the concern that her copper IUD is negatively affecting her physical and mental health. Her response: “You know, some people start taking medication for depression and anxiety.”

Ruta trusted in her body and her ability to make judgments about what is and isn’t good for her. One year after taking out the IUD and trying alternative treatments, she has healed immensely. In response to her publication, dozens of women have already reached out to her. They shared similar experiences or were inspired to take control over their body and well-being by embarking on their own healing journeys.

For We Create Meaning , I spoke with Anna Sundukova and Robyn Bennett about their experiences as women in systems change. Both women attested that the way our societies and economies are set up is harmful to both men and women. We're missing out on something truly important and inherent in what it means to be a living being.

“From a female perspective, however, we believe that it is the cyclical nature of all life, which is particularly familiar to us as females, that we are missing out on as global societies. Both of us know this particularly well from our experiences in the field of strategy and innovation, where the accepted standard is to work “agile” and in back-to-back “sprints”. The truth is, no natural system sprints without pause. No athlete would ever sprint endlessly. The natural cycles of death (pause) and rebirth (generation and acceleration) are shown to us as women biologically throughout our entire lives. We are so glad to see more and more women speaking up against the robotic pursuit of constant productivity, taking breaks, and shaping their lives more as chapters rather than an endless marathon at the pace of a sprint. Many of these women do not have it easy though — countless stories can be found online from women sharing the judgment, the expectations, and the raised eyebrows they get from deciding to live their lives on their own terms.”

"On their own terms" is challenging in societies of standardization where nuance is being paved over from all sides. Patriarchy keeps us in a constant grind, stuck in endless pushing forward and hierarchical competition with little time to rest and take care of ourselves, our loved ones, and our places. With Sympoiesis , we delved into the work of archeologist Marija Gimbutas. Much like any female scientist in history, she received a lot of criticism and censure from the scientific establishment for challenging the status quo. Her discoveries of Goddess figurines and ancient mythologies suggested the widespread existence of matriarchal/matristic societies in Europe that were peaceful and egalitarian — long before patriarchal civilizations became predominant.??

What I learned from all these women is that change starts with speaking up against ingrained societal norms; assessing the stories that both men and women have internalized. As Anna said: “Beyond all the obvious and known barriers stemming from other people’s gender bias, it has been the internalized stuff — the one we walk around with as women, the way we see ourselves — that has been one of the hardest to overcome.”?

Collective silence is the weapon of oppressors and those with a vested interest in keeping the world and its power distribution as is. Sharing your voice, and creating platforms for others — perhaps less privileged, to share theirs, is how we speak truth to power. It's not only liberating. It also frees the necessary energy that innovators draw from to co-create new systems and develop solutions that truly serve all.?

On the other hand, redistributing power also lies in women reclaiming sovereignty over their bodies (and for men like myself in enabling women to do that). Men have decided long enough over the faith of women; denied their personal truth and inner wisdom — sometimes unconsciously, to keep them silent and obedient. Many women have lost their freedom and lives because of it. This affects all sexes and genders alike. While experts are needed, we all need to learn to pit advice and opinions against our personal experience.

Healthcare must shift from a reductionist and one-size-fits-all approach to holistic health and precision medicine. Our interactions with healthcare providers must change from top-down/vertical to horizontal and conversational. When I asked Yair about his experience as a man addressing a women's health issue, I was moved by his statement: "I’m interested in learning and not explaining. So I know that whatever I talk about this topic (pelvic floor weakness) with a woman, I’m always the one who knows less. I believe this is the way to go into every topic because ultimately, every person is different and you can learn from their diverse experiences."

I would love to hear about your experience. How have you reclaimed your health and wellbeing? What are some of the innovations I need to know about? Let me know in the comments!

Links:

• https://visionhealthpioneers.de/the-future-of-womens-cardiovascular-health-is-holistic-and-precise/
• https://visionhealthpioneers.de/why-you-might-need-a-bra-for-your-pelvic-floor/
• https://wecreatemeaning.substack.com/p/women-rewiring-systems-of-power
• https://www.sympoiesis.world/publications/international-womens-day