Healthcare (Commonwealth Union) – Autoimmune diseases have been described as the immune system attacking healthy cells by mistake, which is basically a faulty defence mechanism with serious consequences.
Researchers and immunologists have often looked into numerous factors that could possibly influence an individual’s likelihood of developing an autoimmune condition. Environmental factors together with diet and hyper cleanliness have all been considered in the possibility of being factors in developing autoimmune conditions.
When it comes to gender hormonal factors are often explored in the greater likelihood of developing an autoimmune condition. A recent international study published in The Lancet’s eClinicalMedicine examined the diagnostic experiences of 6,607 people with autoimmune disorders. The study was conducted and led by experts of 2 British universities, that included the University of Cambridge and the University of East Anglia (UEA), that discovered females had a greater chance than males to go through delays in obtaining an accurate diagnosis and treatment.
Once factors such as age, illness type, continent and household financial situation were taken into consideration, females had a 50% greater chance than males to note getting a mental diagnosis that is not correct, the researchers found. They were also nearly 75% more likely to report they’d had a psychosomatic misdiagnosis.
Interestingly, reports of misdiagnosis with another physical condition were slightly more common in males (48%) compared to females (44%).
The research, developed with patients, charities and clinicians, highlights key elements of the diagnostic journey that are often missed in medical notes.
The co-author and patient partner Shaista Tayabali indicated that the variationss between the genders in misdiagnoses noted by individuals with autoimmune diseases were striking. She pointed out that females had a greater chance than males to getting psychiatric or psychosomatic diagnoses the was not accurate, but reported fewer misdiagnoses that consisted of other physical conditions.
This gap suggests that persistent gender bias continues to be a major obstacle throughout the diagnostic pathway.
“Although labels such as hysteria are outdated, and fortunately rarely used nowadays, as women we still often have a harder time having our symptoms believed and therefore addressed accurately.”
The study also revealed that females generally experienced longer delays between the emergence of symptoms and receiving a diagnosis, and attended more healthcare appointments during this period. The most frequently noted time to diagnosis among males was lower than 3 months, females most often indicated staying between a year or 2.
Dr Melanie Sloan of the Department of Public Health and Primary Care at the University of Cambridge and Norwich Medical School at the University of East Anglia indicated that individuals with autoimmune diseases may experience symptoms that are from the beginning harder to explain from a medical perspective. Consequently, it can sometimes take months or even years for the underlying condition to be identified and a diagnosis to be established.
She further pointed out that their findings demonstrate that psychological or mental health explanations can be provided too quick and this can be the case for both genders, however their study points out that females may be particularly vulnerable to this kind of misdiagnosis.
Professor David D’Cruz, who is Consultant Rheumatologist at Guy’s Hospital pointed out that it does not include declaring that a psychiatric diagnosis is never accurate as individuals may have autoimmune conditions together with psychiatric conditions, and there is more of an understanding that psychiatric symptoms could be a component of an autoimmune disease. He indicated that this is especially in conditions such as lupus which can have a direct impact on the brain and they can also be a very natural response to existing with life altering conditions.
