Women’s Health & Pregnancy in Chronic Kidney Disease
Health issues of women do not get as much attention or focus as that of men. Women themselves often ignore symptoms of disease and do not heed warning signs issued by the body. The disparity in access to health care by men and women is proved by statistics which show that the incidence of certain diseases is similar in both men and women, but the percentage of men actually availing treatment is far higher than that of women. Very often, this is the result of the deeply ingrained societal belief that men are superior and bread-winners of the family, and therefore deserve better health care, and even nutrition. With such a situation prevailing, even serious and life threatening conditions go undetected in women.
In the case of kidney disease also, the plight of women is no different. Women are also more likely than men to donate a kidney, while more men than women receive dialysis or undergo kidney transplantation. Even certain government health schemes for the benefit of patients, like free or subsidized treatment or medicines, are utilized more by men than by women. This indicates that expenditure is also not always a criterion for women being denied adequate health care.