By Rana Bou Saleh | Staff Writer
Women’s issues are, more often than not, considered taboo – from menstruation to fertility complications and other issues. Women don’t usually visit the gynecologist before they get married and, even if they do, they are usually accompanied by their married mother to avoid any scandal – especially in the Arab World. Even when married women first visit the gynecologist, it is mostly to check for pregnancy and fertility issues. A woman has long been considered a machine for reproduction, which is one of the many examples of objectifying women.
One of the issues that women face is Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). I personally had no idea it existed until I was diagnosed with it around 5 months ago. The symptoms of PCOS include excessive hair growth (usually around the face, chest, back, or buttocks), gaining weight (especially around the belly), acne or oily skin, irregular or absent periods, and difficulty getting pregnant. Moreover, if it is left untreated, it has very intense and dangerous effects on the health of women. PCOS causes ovarian cysts – hence its name – which can cause severe pain and reduced fertility. Cancer and heart disease are also among the consequences of PCOS.
Considering PCOS is a serious health issue that, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services (2019), affects “1 in 10 women of childbearing age” in the US, you would expect medical research to uncover its causes and discover the treatment.
PCOS was discovered in 1935 by two American gynecologists, Stein and Leventhal. Until today, the causes of PCOS have not yet been uncovered. It is known that it is caused by hormonal imbalance, but the causes and triggers of this imbalance are still unknown. The treatment, however, seems to differ from one individual to another, and gynecologists tend to treat the symptoms rather than the cause – since it is undefined. One patient recalls her doctor prescribing a medicine that would treat the acne that is caused by PCOS and not the syndrome itself [5]. Even the diagnosis tends to be a guessing game, as there is no defined process for diagnosis.
Personally, my doctor told me that I “might” have PCOS based on the symptoms that she identified on my body, and she prescribed supplements for me to take over 6 months to see “if” the symptoms are reduced.
This syndrome affects 4% to 21% of women around the globe, yet Medical research for PCOS is still highly underfunded [1]. In 2017, a study was conducted on the budget of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) – the largest funding agency for biomedical research. The study searched for NIH grants awarded to PCOS research in comparison to grants awarded to disorders “with similar degrees of morbidity and similar or lower mortality and prevalence” [1]. These include rheumatoid arthritis (RA), tuberculosis (TB), and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) – for the years 2006 to 2015. PCOS, compared with RA, TB, and SLE, was relatively less funded (total mean 10-year funding was $215.12 million vs $454.39 million, $773.77 million, and $609.52 million, respectively).
There is a lot of uncertainty in the world of PCOS, and women are the ones who have to endure this. A great deal of the struggles that accompany a PCOS diagnosis can be reduced if some more serious medical research can be done on this syndrome. It is not uncommon, however, for medical research to have this gender bias – categorizing women’s medical health as a subordinate issue with fewer funds. It is surprising that such underfunding exists – considering women constitute half the population and give birth to the other half. The underfunding of medical issues related to women, like PCOS, sheds the light on yet another sexist issue – this time in the medical field!