Each May, during National Women’s Health Week, individuals and institutions alike are encouraged to prioritize women’s well-being. However, the public conversation often restricts women’s health to a narrow checklist: Reproductive care, weight management, skincare routines, and fitness goals are all significant topics, but they only represent part of the picture.
It’s time to expand the definition of women’s health to encompass the full complexity of women’s bodies, minds, and lives — and acknowledge the urgent, often overlooked risks they face, including blood clots, heart disease, and gender bias in clinical care.
Health is More Than Hormones
Mainstream messaging often reduces women’s health to periods, pregnancy, and pap smears. While reproductive care is essential, it does not encompass the full range of medical challenges women face — from autoimmune diseases to blood clotting disorders, cardiovascular disease, and mental health concerns.
Take heart disease, for example: It is the leading cause of death for women in the U.S., responsible for about 1 in every 5 female deaths (CDC, 2024). Yet public perception frames it as a “man’s disease.” Women’s symptoms — often less stereotypical than men’s — are more likely to be misdiagnosed or dismissed entirely. A 2018 study found that women experiencing heart attacks were 50% more likely to be misdiagnosed than men (Johns Hopkins Medicine).
Similarly, conditions such as endometriosis and PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), which affect up to 10% of women of reproductive age, frequently go undiagnosed for years. Research shows that women reporting chronic pelvic pain or menstrual irregularities are often told their symptoms are “normal” or “psychosomatic” (HHS/OASH).
Among the most dangerous threats to women’s health is venous thromboembolism (VTE), which includes deep vein thrombosis (DVT, a blood clot in a person’s leg or arm) and pulmonary embolism (PE, a blood clot in a person’s lung). These blood clots kill an estimated 100,000 people in the United States each year (CDC), with women facing an increased risk during pregnancy, postpartum, and when using combined hormonal contraception or hormone therapy.
Combined hormonal contraceptives increase the risk of VTE by three to five times compared to non-users (Pediatrics). Yet awareness remains alarmingly low. Too often, women and girls who suffer clots are told they’re “rare,” or worse, dismissed altogether.
The Cost of Silence
When health systems fail to acknowledge the full scope of women’s medical experiences, many women become their own advocates out of necessity. They meticulously monitor symptoms, seek second and third opinions, and turn to online forums and support networks when traditional care fails them.
This self-advocacy — while powerful — is born of systemic neglect. Advocacy should not stem from desperation. It must be built into how we train providers, design health systems, and fund research.
Moreover, the silence around specific risks, like hormonal clotting complications, creates a dangerous knowledge gap. Many young women are never informed that pregnancy increases the risk of clotting five-fold, or that the postpartum period is the highest-risk window of all (Heit et al., 2005). Nor are they aware that clotting risk is compounded by genetic conditions, smoking, or immobility, all of which are too often overlooked in basic medical history assessments.
Reclaiming the Narrative
True women’s health advocacy must ask bolder questions:
- Why do clinical trials still under-represent women, especially women of color and those with disabilities?
- Why is medical research still overwhelmingly focused on male physiology — the so-called “default human?”
- Why are women still shocked when they experience a blood clot after starting contraception or giving birth — and why weren’t they warned?
- Why do Black women in the U.S. face a threefold higher risk of dying from pregnancy-related causes compared to white women (CDC, 2023)?
- Why do so many women feel “gaslit” by a healthcare system that minimizes their pain?
During Women’s Health Week, we must center these questions and the advocates working tirelessly to demand answers. We should highlight:
- Researchers challenging bias in medical data and trial design
- Clinicians advancing patient-centered, trauma-informed care
- Community leaders addressing cultural and structural barriers to care
- Survivors of blood clots, heart disease, and chronic conditions who are raising awareness for the next generation
What You Can Do
- Listen: Follow organizations and individuals expanding the scope of women’s health advocacy, including groups focused on clotting disorders.
- Share: Use your platforms to amplify underrepresented voices and little-known conditions.
- Ask Better Questions: In medical appointments, ask about risks, family history, and alternative treatment options — and encourage others to do the same.
Women’s health is not a niche issue. It is a public health issue, a research issue, and a human rights concern — and it’s time we treated it that way.
