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Studies show female patients and people of color are more likely to have their symptoms dismissed by medical providers. Experts say: Keep asking questions. (Marta Monteiro/The New York Times)
Studies show female patients and people of color are more likely to have their symptoms dismissed by medical providers. Experts say: Keep asking questions. (Marta Monteiro/The New York Times)

She could easily run 6 miles in 45 minutes. In the spring of this year, Rishe began to find her daily jogs difficult.

She said doctors told her she would not affect her daily functioning after she was diagnosed with two congenital heart conditions. She started using a wheelchair after passing out too many times, and she woke up with chest pains at night.

A highly recommended cardiologist was found in the Midwest and Rishe flew there to see him. She said that he immediately dismissed her symptoms. He told her to exercise and sent her home.

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She was dissatisfied with her care and saw another doctor who ordered extensive tests to see if her arteries were spasming from a lack of oxygen. She had open-heart surgery two months later to correct the problem, which may have saved her life.

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According to research, up to one out of every seven encounters between a doctor and patient is a diagnostic error. Men are more likely to be misdiagnosed than women.

Patients who have felt that their symptoms were dismissed as minor or primarily psychological by doctors are using the term "medical gaslighting" to describe their experiences and sharing their stories on sites likeInstagram. The term derives from a play about a husband trying to drive his wife insane. Many patients describe the search for accurate diagnosis and treatment as frustrating.

We know that women and especially women of color are often diagnosed and treated differently by doctors than men, even when they have the same health conditions, said Karen Lutfey Spencer, a researcher who studies medical decision-making.

Women face longer waits to be diagnosed with cancer and heart disease, are less likely to be treated for traumatic brain injury, and are less likely to be offered pain medication. Black patients are more likely to be described as non compliant by doctors, which can affect treatment quality.

I recall playing it over and over again in my head, trying to figure out what I might have done to cause him to react this way.

Doctors often blame their health problems on women's mental health, weight or lack of self-care, which can delay effective treatment. According to Spencer's research, women are more likely to be diagnosed with a mental illness if their symptoms are consistent with heart disease.

When Sarah Szczypinski, a journalist in Seattle, began experiencing knee pain and swelling in 2016 after giving birth to her son, she said that one doctor told her she needed to lose weight and do squats, and another told her she needed to do squats.

She said that she felt like the doctors were telling her that she needed to live through her pain. She had to have her leg bone realigned in 2020 because of the condition. She said she felt vindicated when she got the diagnosis. It took three years to get a diagnosis and two more to heal.

Some patients are more likely to belit and ignored.

There are biological differences that go down to the cellular level that may explain why women are more likely to be misdiagnosed than men.

In 1977 the US Food and Drug Administration recommended that scientists exclude women of childbearing years from early clinical drug trials if they were to become pregnant. Researchers were worried that fluctuations in hormones could affect the results.

Thanks to a law passed in 1993 that mandated that women and minorities be included in medical research funded by the National Institutes of Health, women are more systematically included in studies, yet there are still huge knowledge gaps.

Women with heart disease often have different symptoms than men, but doctors are more familiar with the male symptoms. She said that when women show up with symptoms that don't fit into the system, they get gassed and ignored.

By the time she was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus, a disease in which the body slowly attacks its own tissues, she had developed a heart murmur and pneumonia, yet the first doctor she went to diagnosed her with allergies.

I left each time feeling disappointed, sad and uneasy, because I knew they had not solved my problem or helped me in any way, and it had been yet another wasted day.

When Raimey Gallant began losing weight, her hair was falling out and she had a rash in her 20s, her doctor told her she was young, healthy and just.

She battled with disabling period pain for 20 years before finally being diagnosed with Endometriosis, an inflammatory disease characterized by the presence of endometrial-like tissue outside the uterus.

Doctors and patients can improve care.

Scientists argue that more research is needed on women's health conditions, as it is hard to know how to address these systemic problems.

Spencer suggested that doctors should be given more time with their patients. People are more likely to make biased decisions when they juggle many cognitive tasks. Black patients with lower back pain were less likely to be prescribed pain medication by male doctors when they were under stress, according to a study.

It is easy for physicians to make mistakes under difficult conditions. California passed a law requiring hospitals to implement implicit bias programs for health care providers.

The sex and gender in emergency medicine division at Brown University says that women and patients of color might want to bring a friend or relative with them to their medical appointments.

If you feel dismissed, see another doctor. If you want to understand your perspective and language, you might want to seek out a female physician or a provider with better cultural competence.

After her surgery, she wrote a letter to the doctor who dismissed her symptoms. She is relieved that this particular doctor is no longer with her, but she is worried that she will have a similar experience with another doctor one day.

She said that it was sad and that they were ready for it to happen.

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