Dear Miyara tribe,

This morning, when the tween boy at home was asked if girls were part of cricket coaching at his school, the child was appalled and responded sharply, “Of course! Why would you even ask? Are we in the 1800s?”, making the parent squirm in embarrassment.

We honestly wish such a progressive mindset prevailed in the medical research and healthcare space as well! But, sadly, women’s health is still considered niche and not a norm. 

Unfortunately, even the inclusion of female cells and animals in preclinical research was not mandatory until 2016 just because this would cause variations in the results and require larger studies that cost more.

Therefore, research on women-specific health problems and symptoms are underfunded, leading to a gross misunderstanding of such conditions, to the point of even being dismissed as ‘fictitious’! 

Shockingly, even in some drug trials for women-specific conditions, male participants have outnumbered the female subjects (just to obtain uncomplicated data?). What an irony! 

Despite policy changes and efforts by women-led organizations (eg.: WAHM), the implementation of the necessary changes is slow due to cultural reasons and a male-dominant mindset. 

What decision-makers (a majority of which are men) do not realize yet is that late diagnoses, poor health outcomes, and high mortality in women across several health conditions do not only cost their families but the society and economy as a whole. After all, we are half the world's workforce and primary carers and spenders of the family. 

Yet, for investors and other stakeholders, it is just a matter of convenience or short-term profit; they either turn a blind eye to or are ignorant of the larger good women-focused studies can bring about. This is why we need more women in leadership positions, in boardrooms, and as decision-makers.

Read the article by our co-founder Sanjana Rao on how we can empower ourselves by taking small and consistent steps at an individual level. 

The impact of this bias is very obvious from the latest stories on our blog: be it that of a queer person or a cis woman trying to get a precise diagnosis. 

Read on to find out more.

Founder's Point of View

Read our founder Gayatri's experience trying one of the products on our shop page, the at-home gut microbiome test from Bugspeaks.

As a researcher, who has worked with proteins, bacteria, and human cells, I find the Human Microbiome Project which started in 2007, extremely fascinating and exciting as it is the next frontier in understanding human health. In this project, they systematically started identifying all the microbes that coexist in the human body. Subsequently, since 2014, they have been studying how these affect our general well-being or disease condition.

Because of this initiative, today, we know that microbes play a significant role in digestion, immunity, and mental health. The composition of microbes can also predict the probability of an individual getting a disease. 

But how do we access this and what does it mean to us? Well, BugSpeaks is making this easy. 

Since I had some digestive issues but nothing serious enough to ask for immediate medical attention, I chose to do their home sampling test. The kit had everything in place to easily collect and send stool samples.

When I got the result, I wasn't totally surprised that my gut health score was low and that it required some attention. The results showed that while I did not have many bad bacteria to worry about, I did not have enough good bacteria to keep me as healthy as I could be. They provided some nutrition tips on how to fix the issue.  What I thought was equally or more useful was the 15 min consultation with a leading gut health expert, Dr. Shabnam Das Kar that came with the package. She gave me simple instructions on how to fix my gut issues. 

I am now in the process of following the instructions which include taking probiotics (I got Rychbiome specifically made for the Indian gut) and avoiding certain food in my diet and replacing them with other ones. Since these treatments take time to show effect, I cannot yet say if my gut is better, but I feel much better just knowing what is wrong and that I am working on fixing it before it is too late.

(Use code miyarawomen for a 10% discount on the test or contact us at miyara.women@gmail.com to get more information).

Thank you for your continued support. Do reach out if you would like to share your story with us or want us to address specific topics. Join our community on WhatsApp and keep these conversations going.

Till next time,

Wishing you all good health,

Best wishes,

Miyara Team

www.miyarawomen.com 

"Dream it. Believe it. Build it."