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A review by mohawkm
Doing Harm: The Truth about How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick by Maya Dusenbery
3.0
The good of this book is that it thoroughly examines the misconceptions around women, pain, and the most recent diseases you can think of that you may associate with wealthier white women and questions about the legitimacy of the disease. In fact, the book forces you to think, "If I were a woman suffering pain of an unknown origin, when I hadn't had this before, what WOULD I be able to say or do to convince my doctor I didn't just have 'stress'?" Because it's clear that every technique has been tried, and doctors still don't believe women or work to identify the source - instead too often believing that women are seeking attention or want to be defined by illness (not actually an outcome most people want).
The bad of this book is the leaps of faith it takes closer to the end of the book. It ends just before the conclusion with a hypothesis that has very little root in medical research, and is a disappointing wrap up to an otherwise useful listing of conditions that have been taken more seriously over time, getting closer to resolution for sufferers.
However, the conclusion section itself points out that it was only in the second half of the 20th century that we realized that ovarian cancer had symptoms that were definable and were being missed for too long before diagnosis. It serves as a useful template for the overall points of the book, so it's still a useful read, albeit one with repetitive arguments, as others have pointed out:
1. If you are a woman, expect to be your own medical advocate, and be clear and insistent and bring allies (preferably male ones) when discussing medical issues - especially if they have symptoms that we aren't yet able to measure (high on that list would be undefined pain and fatigue).
2. We need far more and better quality research about women and current treatments for every medical condition, and for not-yet-testable conditions.
3. We need to get an objective test for the experience of pain - a big focus of the conditions in this book. Without this, we will continue to miss the mark on treating, understanding, and finding better ways to treat pain.
The bad of this book is the leaps of faith it takes closer to the end of the book. It ends just before the conclusion with a hypothesis that has very little root in medical research, and is a disappointing wrap up to an otherwise useful listing of conditions that have been taken more seriously over time, getting closer to resolution for sufferers.
However, the conclusion section itself points out that it was only in the second half of the 20th century that we realized that ovarian cancer had symptoms that were definable and were being missed for too long before diagnosis. It serves as a useful template for the overall points of the book, so it's still a useful read, albeit one with repetitive arguments, as others have pointed out:
1. If you are a woman, expect to be your own medical advocate, and be clear and insistent and bring allies (preferably male ones) when discussing medical issues - especially if they have symptoms that we aren't yet able to measure (high on that list would be undefined pain and fatigue).
2. We need far more and better quality research about women and current treatments for every medical condition, and for not-yet-testable conditions.
3. We need to get an objective test for the experience of pain - a big focus of the conditions in this book. Without this, we will continue to miss the mark on treating, understanding, and finding better ways to treat pain.