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June 19, 2024
Addressing the Gap in Women's Health Research, Especially for Older Women
For decades, medical research has significantly overlooked women, particularly older women, leaving physicians without crucial information to best manage their health.
Late last year, the Biden administration announced a new effort to tackle this issue: the White House Initiative on Women's Health Research. This raises a vital question: What should be the initiative's priorities regarding older women's health?
Stephanie Faubion, director of the Mayo Clinic's Center for Women's Health, criticized the current state of research on older women's health as "completely inadequate." For instance, many drugs commonly prescribed to older adults, such as statins for high cholesterol, have been primarily studied in men, with the results being generalized to women.
Faubion highlighted the flawed assumption that premenopausal and postmenopausal women respond similarly, emphasizing that this needs to change. She called for the FDA to mandate that clinical trial data be reported by sex and age to determine if drugs work differently for women.
One notable example is the Alzheimer's drug Leqembi, approved by the FDA last year. While the manufacturer reported a 27% slower rate of cognitive decline in users, a supplementary appendix to a Leqembi study published in the New England Journal of Medicine revealed significant sex differences. The drug showed a 12% slowdown in cognitive decline for women compared to a 43% slowdown for men, raising concerns about its effectiveness for women. This is particularly significant as nearly two-thirds of older adults with Alzheimer's disease are women.
Moreover, older women are more likely than older men to suffer from multiple medical conditions, disabilities, difficulties with daily activities, autoimmune diseases, depression and anxiety, uncontrolled high blood pressure, and osteoarthritis, according to numerous studies.
Despite these challenges, women are resilient and outlive men by more than five years in the U.S. As people age into their 70s and 80s, women significantly outnumber men. Therefore, focusing on the health of older women is essential for improving the overall health of the older population.
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