HHS spotlights “invisible illnesses” at new women’s health conference

Women’s medicine needs better diagnostics, Health and Human Services Chief Data Officer Kristen Honey told attendees of the HHS National Conference on Women’s Health Thursday. In a panel, Honey said 80% of patients with Lyme disease and autoimmune disorders are women. She also said the tests to diagnose Lyme disease have largely not been updated since the 1980s, creating a need for research and funding to update standards of care. Lyme disease was just one of several ailments Honey characterized as insufficiently researched and underfunded segments of women’s health. She said other such conditions included cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and infertility.

What is HHS doing about it? FDA Commissioner Marty Makary highlighted HHS policy changes around hormone therapies for women and research into how food chemicals affect the health of women and children over decades. He also said the administration is working to lower prices for in vitro fertilization treatments and looking into the risks of antidepressants for pregnant mothers.

Department leaders also announced several efforts to crowdsource data and medical innovation to research and treat illnesses that still befuddle many doctors. Honey announced the government is aggregating patient and medical provider experiences on long COVID and other chronic illnesses.

Meanwhile, the National Institutes of Health is currently scheduled to launch competitions for medical schools to develop curriculum on topics like nutrition and menopause treatments, with a focus on hormone replacement therapy.

Dig deeper: Listen to Myrna Brown and Mary Reichard’s report on HHS changes to hormone therapies for women.