#11: Women's Health Gap and a $1 Billion Opportunity

The Global Women’s Health Gap: What Science Has Been MissingThis episode is not about simplifying a single biological mechanism. It’s about exposing a global health gap — how it was created, why it persists, and who it affects. For centuries, women’s health has been treated as a smaller version of men’s health.Medical research, diagnostic criteria, and drug development were built around the male body as the default — and then applied to women afterward. The result is a system that systematically underdiagnoses, undertreats, and misunderstands women. Using McKinsey’s 2024 report on the global women’s health gap, this episode walks through its 10 key findings, grounding each one in biology, neuroscience, and real-world clinical consequences.Timestamps: 00:00 - 04:00 Historical Context of Women's Health 04:00 - 07:40 #1: Lifespan vs Healthspan07:40 - 11:00 #2: Atypical Symptoms of Women11:00 - 15:30 #3: Chronic Pain Left Unaddressed 15:30 - 19:30 #4: PMS & PMDD19:30 - 23:20 #5: Menopause 23:20 - 27:50 #6: 75% of Women's Health Issues 27:50 - 30:00 #7: Seven Healthy Days Lost Per Year 30:00 - 33:00 #8: Women Excluded from Research33:00 - 36:30 #9: $1 Trillion for Global Economy 36:30 - 38:00 #10 Call for System-Wide Action