New evidence on autism, autoimmune disease and heart attacks shows women diagnosed later than men, for overlapping reasons. Cardiologists, researchers and England’s health service have begun to change the tools and rules behind those delays.
Diagnosis & Care
Evidence-based reporting, analysis and perspectives on women’s health worldwide. Updated as stories develop.
Girls and women diagnosed with autism 3.4 years later than boys and men, US study finds
Diagnosis of autism in girls is catching up with boys in Scotland and Sweden. In a large US health system, though, girls and women were still diagnosed an average of 3.4 years later than boys and men.
New heart attack definition adds sex-specific thresholds to tackle underdiagnosis in women
Cardiologists have rewritten the international definition of a heart attack, calling for separate blood test limits for women and men. The change is meant to cut the number of heart attacks in women that go unrecognised, and women can act on their own symptoms now.
Women with autoimmune disease wait longer for diagnosis and are more often told it is psychological
Women with autoimmune diseases report waiting far longer than men for a diagnosis and more often hear that their symptoms are psychological, an international study of 6,607 patients shows. Researchers and guidelines set out what should happen when symptoms persist.
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