International Women's Day: Health Conditions That Are Missed or Misdiagnosed Most In Women

When it comes to health, women face the most unique challenges, and according to doctors, the biggest among them is misdiagnosis—when serious health concerns among women are overlooked or mistaken for something else. It not only causes a delay in treatment but also causes physical and mental health issues due to frustration.

When it comes to serious ailments, studies say women have at least a 50 per cent higher chance than men of receiving the wrong initial diagnosis, especially after a heart attack, and 25 per cent are likely to be misdiagnosed after a stroke. And that is not all; research by the University of Copenhagen found that women are diagnosed an average of four years later than men when it comes to more than 700 diseases, and two and a half years later in the case of cancer.

Here are five conditions that are most commonly misdiagnosed in women.

According to experts, women do not have textbook heart disease and heart attack symptoms as often as men do. While chest pain is the main sign of a heart issue, women also have other vaguer symptoms like fatigue, nausea, and back, neck, and jaw pain.

However, most doctors use standard testing methods to detect heart disease that are used in men’s hearts, so it is not as good at discerning heart disease in women, who have smaller blood vessels in their cardiovascular system.

So, instead of just angina pain, women may have chronic fatigue, nausea, or jaw pain, which are mostly mistaken as signs of stress or indigestion.

One of the most debilitating conditions that women face, endometriosis, happens when the lining of the uterus grows outside of it, causing severe pelvic pain, heavy periods, and even infertility.

Despite affecting millions of women across the world, it often goes undiagnosed or is mistaken for bad menstrual cramps. Doctors say women with endometriosis also get detected for inflammatory bowel syndrome (IBS) to depression.

While awareness of these cancers is increasing, a large number of women across the world are still not screened for breast, cervical, or ovarian cancers. According to UN statistics, more than 31 per cent of all breast cancer cases are often misdiagnosed.

It happens due to early signs like bloating, back pain, or irregular bleeding—all of which are either dismissed as harmless or confused with other issues like IBS. Regular check-ups and knowing what is normal for your body can help catch cancer early.

Until recently, sleep specialists thought that sleep apnea—a disorder that increases the risk of high blood pressure, heart failure, and stroke—was a "men's only” condition.

Despite a greater number of studies making it clear that the actual ratio is more like two to three men for every woman with the condition, most doctors still miss the signs in women.

Reasons for this include vague symptoms like chronic fatigue, feeling down, and weight gain, which prompt many doctors to treat them for conditions like low thyroid and mood disorders. Also, many experts feel that it is a preconceived notion that those affected with sleep apnea are middle-aged and overweight males. And that is why women are not questioned about their sleep issues.

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