Why can't women get better care for menopause or heart attacks? Jill Biden wants answers
Maureen Groppe, USA TODAY
Mon, November 13, 2023
Washington − Women aren't getting the care they need when it comes to menopause, heart attacks and other health issues, according to the Biden administration. Now, first lady Jill Biden is giving the administration 45 days to amp up efforts to change that.
Officials said they’re trying to correct the fact that women have been understudied and underrepresented in health research, despite making up more than half the population.
“If you ask any woman in America about her health care, she probably has a story to tell. You know her. She's a woman who gets debilitating migraines but doesn't know why and can't find treatment options that work for her,” the first lady told reporters Monday. “She's the woman going through menopause, who visits with her doctor and leaves with more questions than answers.”
The new initiative announced Monday will be led by Dr. Carolyn M. Mazure, who recently joined Biden’s office from the Yale School of Medicine. At Yale, Mazure created an interdisciplinary research center on the health of women, which studies topics ranging from cardiovascular disease to cancers.
The effort will prioritize areas of research where additional investments could make a big difference, such as heart attacks in women and menopause.
A first step is coming up with specific actions the administration can take to improve research. Officials said they will identify those actions within 45 days.
First Lady Jill Biden tours the National Cancer Institute at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, on Oct. 25, 2023.
Gaps in women's health research
The National Institutes of Health already has an Office of Research on Women’s Health, created in 1990 because women were not being consistently included in NIH-support research.
Since then, the NIH says, it’s achieved significant progress. Policies were created to ensure women are included in research. Research into women’s health has increased. New programs were created to prepare researchers to study women’s health.
But information gaps are still too big, officials said.
“Doctors don't have the information they need, in particular to treat women in their 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and beyond,” said Maria Shriver, a former first lady of California who raised the issue with Biden earlier this year and joined her for Monday’s announcement. “And that's largely because doctors don't have the research data that can dictate their care.”
The initiative goes beyond the NIH by bringing in other federal agencies and partnering with philanthropies and research institutions.
What health conditions are more common in women?
Officials cited various examples of research gaps including:
Women make up two-thirds of the cases of Alzheimer’s but only 12% of NIH funding for Alzheimer’s and related dementias goes towards research focused on women.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death among women yet traditional testing used to diagnose a heart attack was developed based on men.
Researchers don’t know why women who never smoked are twice as likely to develop lung cancer than men who never smoked.
Women suffer from depression and anxiety at twice the rate as men.
Millions o women go through menopause each year, and yet, Biden said, “there's a stunning lack of information about how to manage and treat its symptoms, which can be debilitating.”
What is menopause?
Menopause is defined as the time that marks the end of your menstrual cycles. Most physicians will diagnose it once the individual has gone 12 months without a menstrual period.
Menopause often receives little attention during women’s visits with doctors, according to the health research organization KFF.
Just over one-third of women ages 40-64 surveyed by KFF last year said their health care provider ever talked to them about what to expect in menopause.
“They do not have the answers that they deserve,” Shriver said. “The bottom line is that we can't treat women or prevent them from becoming sick in the first place, if we have not invested in funding the necessary research.”
Is there treatment for menopause?
In the years and months leading up to menopause, known as perimenopause, some of the symptoms include irregular periods, hot flashes, sleep changes, weight gain, thinning of hair and dry skin among others.
According to the Mayo Clinic, while no treatment exists for menopause, most of the focus is working to alleviate symptoms that might become chronic. Some of these include hormone therapy, low-dose antidepressants and various medications to manage hot flashes.
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HOLE IN THE GLOVE
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, walk to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Nov. 11, 2023. The White House says Jill Biden will be in charge of a new initiative to help the federal government spend more time and money on research into women's health issues. Women make up more than half the U.S. population but advocates say they remain understudied and underrepresented in health research.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, walk to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Nov. 11, 2023. The White House says Jill Biden will be in charge of a new initiative to help the federal government spend more time and money on research into women's health issues. Women make up more than half the U.S. population but advocates say they remain understudied and underrepresented in health research.
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Monday announced a White House initiative to improve how the federal government approaches and funds research into the health of women, who make up more than half of the U.S. population but remain understudied and underrepresented in health research.
That underrepresentation can lead to big gaps in research and potentially serious consequences for the health of women across the country, Biden administration officials and others told reporters during a White House conference call to announce the new effort.
The White House Initiative on Women's Health Research will be led by first lady Jill Biden and the White House Gender Policy Council.
President Biden said he's long been a believer in the “power of research” to help save lives and get high-quality health care to the people who need it. He was to sign paperwork Monday directing federal departments to get to work on the initiative.
“To achieve scientific breakthroughs and strengthen our ability to prevent, detect and treat diseases, we have to be bold," the president said in a written statement. He said the initiative will "drive innovation in women's health and close research gaps.”
Jill Biden said during the conference call that she met earlier this year with former California first lady and women's health advocate Maria Shriver, who “raised the need for an effort inside and outside government to close the research gaps in women's health that have persisted far too long.”
“When I brought this issue to my husband, Joe, a few months ago, he listened. And then he took action,” the first lady said. “That is what he does.”
Jill Biden has worked on women's health issues since the early 1990s, after several of her friends were diagnosed with breast cancer and she created a program in Delaware to teach high school girls about breast health care.
Shriver said she and other advocates of women's health have spent decades asking for equity in research but that the Democratic president and first lady “understand that we cannot answer the question of how to treat women medically if we do not have the answers that only come from research.”
Shriver said women make up two-thirds of those afflicted with Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis, and represent more than three-fourths of those who are diagnosed with an auto-immune disease.
Women suffer from depression and anxiety at twice the levels of men, and women of color are two to three times more likely to die of pregnancy related complications than white women, she said. Millions of other women grapple daily with the side effects of menopause.
“The bottom line is that we can’t treat or prevent them from becoming sick if we have not infested in funding the necessary research," Shriver said on the call. “That changes today.”
Jennifer Klein, director of the White House Gender Policy Council, said the leaders of agencies important to women's health research will participate in the initiative, including those from the Departments of Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs, Defense and the National Institutes of Health, among others.
Biden's memorandum will direct members to report back within 45 days with “concrete recommendations" to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of women's health issues. It also asks them to set “priority areas of focus,” such as research ranging from heart attacks in women to menopause, where additional investments could be “transformative.”
The president also wants collaboration with the scientific, private sector and philanthropic communities.
Carolyn Mazure will chair the research effort. Mazure joined the first lady's office from the Yale School of Medicine, where she created its Women's Health Research Center.
White House establishing initiative focused on women’s health research
Alex Gangitano
Mon, November 13, 2023
The White House announced Monday it is establishing an initiative focused on women’s health research, which will be led by first lady Jill Biden.
To launch the initiative, which will also be led by the White House Gender Policy Council, President Biden will direct multiple agencies to deliver recommendations to advance women’s health research within 45 days.
The initiative will then find areas for additional investments, like in research around heart attacks in women and menopause, according to the White House, which also plans to engage the private sector and philanthropic leaders.
The chair of the initiative will be Carolyn Mazure, a professor in women’s health research, psychiatry, and psychology at Yale School of Medicine. She created Women’s Health Research at Yale center and worked at the National Institutes of Health.
In a call with reporters, the first lady said Maria Shriver talked to her about the need for more research into women’s health, which turned into the creation of the initiative.
“Maria, thank you for bringing this urgent issue to our attention,” Jill Biden said, adding that Shriver will advise her and the philanthropic communities involved in the initiative.
“It’s a really big deal what you just announced,” Shriver said on the call with reporters.
Biden said in a statement the initiative aims to identify “bold solutions” to answer questions for women and their health.
“Every woman I know has a story about leaving her doctor’s office with more questions than answers. Not because our doctors are withholding information, but because there’s just not enough research yet on how to best manage and treat even common women’s health conditions. In 2023, that is unacceptable,” she said.
She specifically pointed to a “stunning lack of information” about how to manage menopause. When asked about research for abortion, senior administration officials said maternal and reproductive health are essential to women’s health but did not specifically outline abortion access as a key focus of the initiative.
“I have always believed in the power of research to save lives and to ensure that Americans get the high-quality health care they need. To achieve scientific breakthroughs and strengthen our ability to prevent, detect, and treat diseases, we have to be bold,” Biden said in a statement.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Monday announced a White House initiative to improve how the federal government approaches and funds research into the health of women, who make up more than half of the U.S. population but remain understudied and underrepresented in health research.
That underrepresentation can lead to big gaps in research and potentially serious consequences for the health of women across the country, Biden administration officials and others told reporters during a White House conference call to announce the new effort.
The White House Initiative on Women's Health Research will be led by first lady Jill Biden and the White House Gender Policy Council.
President Biden said he's long been a believer in the “power of research” to help save lives and get high-quality health care to the people who need it. He was to sign paperwork Monday directing federal departments to get to work on the initiative.
“To achieve scientific breakthroughs and strengthen our ability to prevent, detect and treat diseases, we have to be bold," the president said in a written statement. He said the initiative will "drive innovation in women's health and close research gaps.”
Jill Biden said during the conference call that she met earlier this year with former California first lady and women's health advocate Maria Shriver, who “raised the need for an effort inside and outside government to close the research gaps in women's health that have persisted far too long.”
“When I brought this issue to my husband, Joe, a few months ago, he listened. And then he took action,” the first lady said. “That is what he does.”
Jill Biden has worked on women's health issues since the early 1990s, after several of her friends were diagnosed with breast cancer and she created a program in Delaware to teach high school girls about breast health care.
Shriver said she and other advocates of women's health have spent decades asking for equity in research but that the Democratic president and first lady “understand that we cannot answer the question of how to treat women medically if we do not have the answers that only come from research.”
Shriver said women make up two-thirds of those afflicted with Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis, and represent more than three-fourths of those who are diagnosed with an auto-immune disease.
Women suffer from depression and anxiety at twice the levels of men, and women of color are two to three times more likely to die of pregnancy related complications than white women, she said. Millions of other women grapple daily with the side effects of menopause.
“The bottom line is that we can’t treat or prevent them from becoming sick if we have not infested in funding the necessary research," Shriver said on the call. “That changes today.”
Jennifer Klein, director of the White House Gender Policy Council, said the leaders of agencies important to women's health research will participate in the initiative, including those from the Departments of Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs, Defense and the National Institutes of Health, among others.
Biden's memorandum will direct members to report back within 45 days with “concrete recommendations" to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of women's health issues. It also asks them to set “priority areas of focus,” such as research ranging from heart attacks in women to menopause, where additional investments could be “transformative.”
The president also wants collaboration with the scientific, private sector and philanthropic communities.
Carolyn Mazure will chair the research effort. Mazure joined the first lady's office from the Yale School of Medicine, where she created its Women's Health Research Center.
White House establishing initiative focused on women’s health research
Alex Gangitano
Mon, November 13, 2023
The White House announced Monday it is establishing an initiative focused on women’s health research, which will be led by first lady Jill Biden.
To launch the initiative, which will also be led by the White House Gender Policy Council, President Biden will direct multiple agencies to deliver recommendations to advance women’s health research within 45 days.
The initiative will then find areas for additional investments, like in research around heart attacks in women and menopause, according to the White House, which also plans to engage the private sector and philanthropic leaders.
The chair of the initiative will be Carolyn Mazure, a professor in women’s health research, psychiatry, and psychology at Yale School of Medicine. She created Women’s Health Research at Yale center and worked at the National Institutes of Health.
In a call with reporters, the first lady said Maria Shriver talked to her about the need for more research into women’s health, which turned into the creation of the initiative.
“Maria, thank you for bringing this urgent issue to our attention,” Jill Biden said, adding that Shriver will advise her and the philanthropic communities involved in the initiative.
“It’s a really big deal what you just announced,” Shriver said on the call with reporters.
Biden said in a statement the initiative aims to identify “bold solutions” to answer questions for women and their health.
“Every woman I know has a story about leaving her doctor’s office with more questions than answers. Not because our doctors are withholding information, but because there’s just not enough research yet on how to best manage and treat even common women’s health conditions. In 2023, that is unacceptable,” she said.
She specifically pointed to a “stunning lack of information” about how to manage menopause. When asked about research for abortion, senior administration officials said maternal and reproductive health are essential to women’s health but did not specifically outline abortion access as a key focus of the initiative.
“I have always believed in the power of research to save lives and to ensure that Americans get the high-quality health care they need. To achieve scientific breakthroughs and strengthen our ability to prevent, detect, and treat diseases, we have to be bold,” Biden said in a statement.
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