“Despite entrenched gender bias in medicine, femtech innovators are determined to disrupt the system”

The lack of education and understanding about female* hormone health has serious implications, says Philippa Zorn. Femtech could play a valuable role.

Through no fault of our own, common knowledge about the female* hormone cycles has been taught to us in a drastically over-simplified way.

Women* are culturally prescribed a set of ‘facts’. Neatly summed up, this forms the basis of our knowledge: we menstruate, we can get pregnant, and symptoms are normal.

Needless to say, this does no justice to the marvellous complexity of our bodies, with the last ‘fact’ creating premise for the neglect of our health and dismissing the hormone cycle for what it is – a key indicator of female* health.

The lack of education and understanding about female* hormone health has serious implications for women’s* health and wellbeing as a whole.

Knowledge gaps in medicine can lead to inadequate self-advocacy and understanding of medical issues and can result in misdiagnosis and improper care.

Although women* live longer lives, they also lead unhealthier lives. The sad reality is that many readers will likely find much of this to be reflective of personal experience.

Studies have shown that women’s* symptoms are often dismissed or ignored by healthcare providers, leading to a lack of proper diagnosis and treatment.

Take the example of endometriosis. The chronic disease affects one in ten reproductive-age females* (n=190 million) and causes an extensive list of “life-impacting” symptoms. Pointing to a history of gender biased medical research and ‘wilful ignorance’, studies have found women’s* experience of the disease to be regularly dismissed and minimised by practitioners.

Due to its “significant social, public health and economic implications”, experts at the World Health Organisation stress the importance of treatment and early diagnosis.

While the health authority admits diagnosis is currently difficult, it does point to a better likelihood through cataloguing a “careful history of menstrual symptoms and chronic pelvic pain”.

But the neglect of women’s* hormone health does not only have repercussions for the individual and healthcare systems. These issues also affect our societal and economic structures.

Women* report decreased productivity in the workplace, translating to an average of 10.2 days of absence from their work places, due to menstrual related symptoms per year. This halts careers, decreases income opportunity, and comes with a financial loss for emyloyers.

Perimenopause symptoms have reportedly prevented women* from taking on senior management roles and sometimes ending their careers prematurely.

The impact can be felt as personal financial instability at an older age, contributes to the skills shortage, decreases economic growth, and can potentially cause additional costs for social security systems.

Femtech can play a valuable role in addressing these issues by providing accessible and comprehensive tools and information for women* to better understand and advocate for their own health.

By providing tech solutions that do not only let users track their cycles and symptoms, but also provide knowledge to connect symptoms and their possible correlations, women* will be able to better understand their own bodies, gain the ability to identify potential health issues and to pro-actively advocate for themselves when seeking further medical assistance.

As the number of generations designated “digital native” grows exponentially, apps become a logical and effective means to educate on hormone-related health from a young age. For example, schools and healthcare providers could use apps and online resources to provide comprehensive and age-appropriate education about menstrual cycles and other aspects of female hormone health.

A 2020 study found that a mobile education tool significantly improved teenage girls’* knowledge about reproductive health after only eight weeks.

This brings us to the crux of the matter – body literacy and the role technology plays in advancing this goal.

By leveraging advancements in tech and utilising credible sources of information, we can support the development of body literacy in women* and empower them to take charge of their own health.

What’s more, a strong foundation in body literacy can help in navigating the changes and challenges of the different stages of our hormone health journeys – from menarche to menopause – with greater confidence and self-assurance.

With entrenched gender bias in medical research, it can sometimes feel that the cards are stacked against pioneers in female-centred healthcare and education. But, as this very publication shows, countless femtech innovators are determined to disrupt the system, inspiring us with case studies that aim to break stigmas and promote greater gender equality in health.

By providing women*, especially starting at a young age, with access to informative tools, digital technologies can help them better understand their own bodies and advocate for their own health while empowering them and improving health outcomes in the process.

– I would like to acknowledge that not everyone with a female hormone cycle identifies as a woman* and not every woman* has a female hormone cycle –

Philippa Zorn is the co-founder and co-CEO of the Berlin-based hormone cycle awareness app, HERMONE.