> but once you get into more rare stuff it gets a lot harder.
Endometriosis is not rare. But it's a female disease. You will be shocked to know how many of diseases that women have to deal with are both quite common (some estimate up to 10% of women may have it), and completely ignored by medical community (which is still overwhelmingly male)
It is absolutely also about genders too.
I get a tingle in my balls? Here's an expedited ultrasound that we can do tomorrow. We can get you in for a blood test for cancer markers in two days.
My whole pelvis hurts when I have my period? Here's a motrin and an ibuprofen. Come back if it doesn't stop bleeding after a few days.
Like an effervescent abscess, the difference in treatment between males and females remains to this day. It's not even particularly hard to find female doctors that will outright dismiss symptoms in female patients because that's what they were taught.
Ask women how many of their common maladies still get untreated or misdiagnosed.
White[1] males are extremely over represented in medical literature and research. And I'm saying it as a white male myself.
[1] This actually has ramifications beyond just gender. See e.g. https://www.statnews.com/2020/07/21/dermatology-faces-reckon...
You are correct, and my language was not very helpful there!
The article shows that 10% is a low estimate.
It is not completely ignored, but research is underfunded nearly to the degree that COPD is underfunded.
I think we need to distinguish two things here too: the bedside manner of doctors and whether they are willing to present the options that could lead to diagnosis, and then the amount of medical research that could give doctors some tools to better manage endometriosis.