Women's Health Is Not a Niche — So Why Is It Still Treated Like One?

Women's Health & Advocacy
Written By Totally Fine Co

Women make up approximately half of the global population. Conditions that affect predominantly or exclusively women — endometriosis, PMOS/PCOS, adenomyosis, perimenopause, polycystic (relating to multiple cysts) conditions, uterine fibroids — affect hundreds of millions of people collectively.

So why are they so consistently underfunded, underresearched, and undertreated?

This is not a conspiracy theory. It is a well-documented feature of the healthcare landscape — and it has real, measurable consequences for real women's lives.

The research gap

For decades, the majority of clinical trials (medical studies testing treatments) used male participants as their default. In the United States, women were explicitly excluded from clinical research for large parts of the 20th century — ostensibly (supposedly) to "protect" them from potential harm, but with the effect of creating an enormous knowledge gap. Drugs, dosages, and treatment protocols (standard procedures) were developed based on male physiology (body systems) and then applied to women without the evidence base to support doing so.

The consequences of this are still being felt. Pain medications that work differently in women. Dosages that weren't calibrated (adjusted) for female biology. Cardiovascular (heart and blood vessel) disease that presents differently in women and is still frequently missed in emergency settings as a result.

The conditions that fall through the gaps

Endometriosis affects an estimated 10% of women globally — roughly 190 million people. It took until 2024 for a major university-led scoping review (a broad research overview) to map the full extent of diagnostic delay worldwide (University of York, 2024). PMOS (formerly PCOS) — affecting 10–13% of reproductive-aged women — was renamed only in 2025, decades after it was first described, with the original name having contributed to misdiagnosis and fragmented (disconnected, incomplete) care (The Lancet, 2025).

Adenomyosis has an average diagnostic delay of 11 years. Perimenopause is described by researchers as a "hidden phenomenon" — something women arrive at completely unprepared, with inadequate support from a healthcare system where 80% of gynaecologists are untrained in menopause care (Joinmidi, 2024).

These are not rare edge cases. These are majority experiences.

What this means in practice

For women living with undiagnosed or inadequately managed (treated) conditions, the consequences stretch far beyond individual discomfort:

  • Lost productivity (inability to work at full capacity) due to unmanaged pain and fatigue

  • Mental health impact from years of being told symptoms are not real

  • Delayed treatment meaning conditions progress (worsen) that could have been managed earlier

  • Financial burden from years of pursuing private care when NHS pathways (routes through NHS healthcare) don't deliver answers

  • Loss of fertility in conditions where early treatment might have preserved it

Why we started Totally Fine Co.

We built Totally Fine Co. because we experienced this gap personally — and because we know that the women around us did too. We are not clinicians (medical professionals), and we don't pretend to be. But we understand that when your health story is fragmented (scattered across appointments, portals, memory, and years of being dismissed), important patterns are missed.

Our tools are designed to help you bring structure to what you already know — so that when you do finally sit in front of someone who is willing to listen, you are ready.

The system is not yet what it needs to be. But you don't have to navigate it alone, and you don't have to start from the beginning every time. Reach out to us!

References:

This post is for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice or diagnosis. If you are concerned about your symptoms, please speak with a qualified healthcare provider.

Totally Fine Co
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