UK News article: Women are still branded ‘hysterical’ because of chronic illnesses which are under-researched and under-funded

"The Department of Health and Social Care marked International Women’s Day this year with the launch of a consultation, asking women in England to share their experiences of the ‘gender health gap’. It’s a welcome gesture, but it must be backed up by action – and cold hard cash – particularly for the millions of women living with chronic and invisible illnesses."

https://inews.co.uk/opinion/chronic-illness-women-me-fibromyalgia-research-treatment-905879


"A US-based study published in November 2020 also highlighted a significant gender disparity in research funding. The paper, published in the Journal of Women’s Health, found that the American National Institutes of Health “applies a disproportionate share of its resources to diseases that affect primarily men, at the expense of those that affect primarily women”.

Fourteen female-dominant conditions were found to be underfunded relative to their disease burden – including chronic conditions like endometriosis, myalgic encephalomyeleitis (ME), migraines, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis (MS)."

[Forum thread for this study here, https://www.s4me.info/threads/gende...tional-institutes-of-health-2020-mirin.19631/]


"This lack of awareness is sadly all too common for ME patients, according to Professor Julia Newton, a Consultant Physician at Newcastle Hospitals, who specialises in fatigue. “Research has been so limited that we really have very little in the way of understanding, either about ME in general or why women are more likely to be affected,” she tells i.
....
There is some hope on the horizon for ME patients though, with the largest ever genomic study of the condition launched in 2020. The DecodeME study is led by the ME/CFS Biomedical Partnership, with Action for ME, the Medical Research Council’s Human Genetics Unit at the University of Edinburgh, and the London School of Hygeine and Tropical Medicine. Professor Newton is optimistic that this research will give scientists a greater understanding of the genetic factors at play, and help to direct future research into the possible causes of ME."