2024-02-06 07:50:20
With the aim of reducing inequities, avoiding risks and adapting and improving health care, pharmacists have launched a health campaign to raise awareness about health inequalities by sex and gender.
Mental health, osteoarthritis, urinary tract infections, osteoporosis, migraine or STIs are a much more frequent cause of visits to the community pharmacy by women than by men. /EFE/Emilio Morenatti
This campaign of General Council of Pharmaceutical Colleges Next to the Organon pharmaceutical company, is framed within the Social Strategy of the Pharmaceutical Profession to give visibility to the inequalities that exist in terms of health according to sex and gender.
The initiative has included a previous survey which has allowed us to analyze the differences in a representative sample of community pharmacies throughout Spain.
The surveys carried out have revealed that women are still the main caregivers in society and one out of every two times they go to the pharmacy for medication they do so to take care of other people, such as children or elderly dependents, compared to men who They only go to the pharmacy on behalf of other people 30% of the time.
Furthermore, the data extracted reflect that when women go to the pharmacy for their own care, they do it more often than men and especially for pathologies related to mental health, urinary tract infections, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, migraine or sexually transmitted diseases.
Another initiative launched by pharmacists is the guide “The pharmacy for women’s health, taking care of you, taking care of everyone”, whose main objectives are: Increase social awareness about women’s health, study which pathologies affect women the most to address them from pharmacies and provide tools to develop comprehensive and differentiated care.
Cardiovascular diseases in men and women
Mature woman and cardiovascular risk
Las cardiovascular diseases (CVD) They are a group of disorders of the heart and blood vesselswhich include strokes, coronary heart disease (heart attacks or angina), deep vein thromboses or pulmonary embolisms, among others.
These diseases are the leading cause of death among women. According to the study of General Council of Pharmacists Cardiovascular disease (CVD) in women is diagnosed later and they have less access to rehabilitation programs.
In the case of women, an increase in cardiovascular risk factors has been observed related to smoking, overweight/obesity and a sedentary lifestyle.
Differences between women and men regarding the possibility of developing cardiovascular disease. Infographic provided by the General Council of Pharmacists and Organon.
Heart attack in women
Heart attacks represent a third of all deaths in women worldwide. Although the heart attack
classic myocardial disease is three times more common in men than in elderly women The number of women under 65 years of age is increasing who suffer this type of myocardial infarction.
The most common symptom of a heart attack or myocardial infarction is pressure, pain or discomfort in the chest that lasts little and constantly appears and disappears.
Especially in women, chest pain is not always very intense, so it usually go unnoticed and be described as pressure or oppressionin addition to presenting other symptoms, such as:
- Discomfort in the neck, jaw, shoulders or upper abdomen.
- Respiratory difficulty
- Pain in one or both arms
- Nausea or vomiting
- Cold sweating and paleness
- Stun, dizziness or vertigo
- Unusual tiredness
- Gastric heartburn
- Anxiety
Thus, pharmacists adviseamong other actions:
Women and mental health
In between 6 and 20% of children and adolescents they have a anxiety disorder, women being the most affected.
It is estimated that up to 20% of 18-year-olds have suffered at least one depressive episode in your life. Its prevalence in adolescents follows a 2:1 ratio of women to men, and common depressive episodes are usually associated with maladaptive social behaviors such as school failure or suicidal ideation.
hormonal changes, Stressful childhood events or genetics are the main causes that affect depressive states in adolescence and influence the conflicts they present regarding sexual identity, academic and/or social (socialization, communication or relationship problems)
In women, the most common signs of depression are eating disorders and self-harm. Furthermore, suicidal ideations increase with age and tend to be more common in girls over 13 years of age.
Presentation of the ‘Pharmacy for women’s health’ campaign. From left to right: Juan Vera, general director of Organon; Raquel Varas, head of Health Campaigns of the General Council of Pharmacists; Raquel Martínez, secretary
general of the General Council; and Jesús Aguilar, president of the General Council of Colleges of Pharmacists. Image provided by the General Council of Pharmacists.
Osteoporosis, gender differences
The osteoporosis It is a systemic skeletal pathology that is characterized by the loss of bone mass, bone mineral density and the loss of microarchitectural integrity and bone resistance with the consequent increase in the risk of fracture, mainly at the level of the spine and
The femur.
Osteoporosis affects more than 200 million people worldwide and its prevalence increases with age and aging.
Women are more at risk than men, although it is currently recognized that the disease in men is understudied, underdiagnosed and undertreated.
However, osteoporosis remains a predominantly female pathology. In fact, the risk of fragility fractures is approximately 2.5 times higher among women compared to men.
exist risk factor’s that are exclusive to women and that have a great influence on bone loss, such as early menopause, anorexia nervosa, excessive exercise or anti-estrogen therapy, among others.
On the other hand, there is a low adherence to treatmentsince approximately 50% of patients abandon treatment during the first year, which produces a increased risk
of osteoporotic fractures and its consequences.
Video of the campaign of the General Council of Pharmaceutical Colleges to raise awareness about differences in health by sex and gender. Image provided.
The bell: “The pharmacy for women’s health, taking care of you, taking care of everyone” explains that there are many others extremely prevalent pathologies in which sex and gender differences are important both in the incidence and in the symptoms, the treatments they usually receive and their adherence and even the response to said treatments.
All of them are gathered in the guide that is available for your online consultation on the website of the General Council of Pharmaceutical Colleges.
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