The origin of the vocation of Carme Valls Llobet It is not necessary to look for it in being the daughter of a doctor –which influenced–, but in something much more intimate: her periods were terribly painful. Understanding the menstrual cycle that gave her such a bad life not only made her an eager endocrinologist. It also turned it into a ‘nuisance’ for the health system that, until four days ago, was designed by and for men.
Their struggle to incorporate the gender perspective into healthcare has had an effect. Not long enough, in his opinion. In ‘Invisible Women for Medicine’ (Captain Swing), a now updated classic, reels off arguments.
-What was before, medicine or feminism?
-I came to feminism through biology. My first impact was in the fifth year of Medicine, in 1966: women came to the emergency room with fractures and contusions that did not fit with “having fallen down the stairs”, and the boss decided: “Stay out, it’s a private matter.” And in the medical history we pointed out the injuries in silhouettes of men.
– Was your conscience born there?
-I would say that it was as a result of the organization of the first Congress on Women and Quality of Life, in 1990, where I asked the question: “Are there differences in mortality and morbidity between men and women?”
-And the answer is that there are.
-Yes. I do not accuse science of being macho. In the hospitals there were men, and medical science was born from the hospitals. They thought that what happened to men, happened to women. But women’s lives are traversed by the menstrual cycle. It permeates all the systems of the female body: all the skin cycles, it influences the metabolism of the heart, cholesterol … From 14 to 50 years old, they insist that it is not important; But when you don’t have your period, they say that now you will have problems. Let’s see, does it matter or not? There are hardly any research papers that include menstruation. And 70% of the rats that are used for the study of drugs are male.
-Difficult to correct the course.
-Marcia Angell, head of the ‘New England Journal of Medicine’, imposed as a requirement that scientific works that did not differentiate by sex would not be accepted.
-How do you explain the conformity of women?
-When we were nomads, the woman –with fisheye vision– warned of the arrival of the lion, and the man –with tunnel vision– stabbed the spear. There was parity, and motherhood was highly respected (they saw how the baby came out, but not how it ‘came in’). That ended possession of the land.
-The zero minute of the patriarchy?
-The men wanted the certainty that the children were theirs and they locked up whoever gave birth to them. To achieve this confinement, it was inferred that the woman was inferior. And for them, who already had menstrual pains and gave birth and were surely anemic, it was good for them. If not, it is not understood that there has been so much domination and blame in all cultures.
– Guilt sabotages?
-When you feel guilty, you don’t protest. And the stereotype was installed, and perpetuated, even in women themselves. The Bible made it clear that Eve was responsible for the fall. Just two centuries ago, Olympia de Gouges said that women should have the same rights and was guillotined. And last century ran that the female brain was smaller, although later it was seen that the difference is water, not neurons.
-Is inequality sick?
-Yes. The double shift, which means that when the woman comes home, the man rests and she does not get sick from a cardiovascular point of view and causes anxiety.
-Would you dare to apply the term ‘gender violence’ in healthcare?
-When the science of difference is lacking, it is violence. That they do not listen to you in the consultation is violence. Forcing you to do treatments you don’t want is violence. The attitude of the doctors towards the patient is sometimes aggressive, imposing, dictatorial.
“The double shift of women makes them sick from a cardiovascular point of view and causes them anxiety”
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-On the one hand, ignored. On the other, perfection is demanded of them.
-That tension causes anxiety. It’s actually an imaginary conflict: you are worthless, but you embark on a race to be perfect. They project it on having the perfect house, on being the perfect mother or the ‘superwoman’ who does everything and destroys herself inside. As it is a social and cultural problem, you cannot dismiss it with an “you are a depressive” and treat it with psychotropic drugs.
-The young women are not so willing.
-The young women have progressed, but they are still not in the leadership. And the ones that are, may not have a gender perspective. The feeling of guilt in women must be removed so as not to fall into medicalization.
-An illuminating example.
-A study by the Galatea-CAPS Foundation investigated what stresses Catalan doctors the most. They have a higher premenstrual syndrome than in any profession, more breast cancer and more obstetric risks. We discovered that, to a large extent, it was due to the stress caused by not having decision-making capacity regarding their own work. The response of the medical college was to take an anti-stress course. No! They want a health organization that is not tailored for men, but tailored for life. More now, that the pandemic has revealed that of all infected toilets, 70% are women.
-The virus attacks them more, but kills them less.
-The virus incorporates angiotensin converting enzyme receptors (ACE) and the woman’s body has more, although it is capable of manufacturing ACE-1 and ECA-2, the latter protector of inflammation.
– Will Fernando Simón know?
-Insurance. It would be good if it gave data on the covid by sex. And that the public exhibition be shared with members of his team, such as Marina Pollán Santamaría, who directs the serological study throughout Spain, and Raquel Yotti, the director of the Carlos III Institute.
“The symptoms of heart disease are different from those of men. After taking treatment, post-infarction mortality is higher”
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-What do women most die of?
-The first cause is ischemic heart disease. As the symptoms – which are different from men – are not identified, treatment takes longer to apply and post-infarction mortality is higher. Patricia Healy coined the term ‘Yentl syndrome’: women should go to the cardiologist dressed as men. Has progress been made? Something. 38% of cardiovascular disease studies now include women.
-He advises against aspirin.
-The first 50,000 humans they experimented with were men. When they have included women, it has been seen that it can cause more gastrointestinal bleeding.
-Then there are creams, shampoos, dyes.
-Most of the breast cancers are due to excess estrogens, own or environmental. The normal thing is to have less than 80 cm³ of blood loss each month, and it has been seen that the parabens in shampoos and creams – which mimic the effect of estrogen – increase it; and that the dyes can cause non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Anything that mimics the effect of estrogen accumulates more in the fat cell and women have more fat cells than men.
-We have the worst part in all fields …
-Being a woman in an androcentric society hurts us. Medicine does not see us, but before that they have already given us everywhere: insults in adolescence, stress in motherhood – 25% develop autoimmune thyroiditis -; working life, where there may be environmental toxins. They come to the consultation reporting that everything hurts, and they are given a contraceptive or a sedative. That can not be! Covid will leave chronic fatigue syndrome in women.
“It has been seen that the cells of the female body have different proteins”
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-A part of feminism is uncomfortable marking the differences.
-Some say that if you get too biological you give rise to macho arguments. But the difference does not mean unequal rights. The cells of the female body have been shown to have different proteins. And the corpus callosum, which connects the left and right brain, is three times larger. We have the right to be looked at in our differences.
-Spread a recipe to keep going.
-We have to start being as we want. Recover our wishes. Only people who stop being victims improve to become protagonists of their health. You have to give yourself five tastes every day.
It may interest you
-Which ones do you give yourself?
-I have recovered my desire trying to recover that of the others.
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