Half the planet: Big, underreported stories in women’s health

Half the planet: Big, underreported stories in women’s health

  • Nicole Donnellan, M.D., School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh
  • Makeba Williams, M.D., Washington University OB/GYN, Director of Menopause Medicine at Barnes-Jewish Hospital
  • Yong Wang, Ph.D., assistant professor, Washington University in St. Louis
  • Meryl Davids Landau, independent journalist (moderator)

By Katie Quinn

Women and people with reproductive organs experience major health problems throughout their lifetimes. Yet issues related to women’s health are severely underreported. And this kind of health research is often underfunded.

This panel guided journalists on the state of menopause and endometriosis research and treatment, and technology that could influence birth outcomes. 

Endometriosis affects one in 10 women of reproductive age. That's more than 6 million people in the United States. Nicole Donnellan talked about the benefits of excision for long-term pain relief. It involves removing tissue in the pelvic area versus an alternative technique in which tissue is burned through fulguration. Endometriosis can be expensive to treat, especially on top of misdiagnoses. 

"There are huge direct and indirect costs from this disease,” Donnellan said, an estimated $10,000 per year per patient.

Makeba Williams shared her insights on the intersectionality of menopause and race. Anyone with female reproductive organs will experience menopause in their lifetime. Symptoms vary from person to person but typically include hot flashes and chills.

"This isn't just about being uncomfortable having to dress in layers, getting your bedsheets wet," Williams said. "Hot flashes, and night sweats impact health, and quality of life, and they cost a lot."

There's an increased risk of heart disease associated with menopause. Black women, on average, have the longest duration of menopause and intensity of symptoms, in part due to access to care, culture and other social determinants. 

Maternal mortality rates have made headlines recently because of the risks associated with giving birth in the United States. Yong Wang's team is trying to improve the diagnosis of preterm births and postpartum hemorrhaging. New technology would create 4D imaging of uterine contractions and blood flow patterns to determine human labor progression. 

"We still cannot tell the difference between normal and abnormal contractions," Wang said. 

Wang hopes to put these devices in low-income health care environments where rates of birth complications are highest. He said biomedical imaging is the future of women's health care.

Katie Quinn is a student reporter at KBIA in Columbia, Missouri. She was a 2023 AHCJ Missouri Health Journalism Fellow. 

Session Materials