{"id":444551,"date":"2026-04-20T11:11:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T11:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/444551\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T11:11:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T11:11:09","slug":"wincee-launch-womens-health-research-top-of-the-agenda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/444551\/","title":{"rendered":"WINCEE launch: Women\u2019s health research top of the agenda"},"content":{"rendered":"

Speaking at the launch of WINCEE (Women in Nutraceuticals Central and Eastern Europe) during NutraFood Poland last week (Apr 14), <\/b>Ewa Hudson and Agnieszka Anielska, co-chairs for the regional committee, spotlighted women\u2019s health research as a solid investment for societies and economies worldwide. <\/p>\n

They highlighted that 1 in 4 women report health problems that limit daily activities, productivity, and earnings, and closing the women\u2019s health gap could boost the global economy by an estimated $1 trillion per year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cImproving healthcare outcomes and quality of life for women extends to their families, and to wider society,\u201d Hudson said in a presentation co-authored by Julia Wiebe and Petra Frick, WIN EU co-chairs. \u201cInvesting in women\u2019s health is the best investment for societies and economies.\u201d <\/p>\n

Noting that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) spent an estimated $5 billion on women\u2019s health in 2025, compared with $50 billion in other areas, Hudson highlighted there is a particular underrepresentation of women (29\u201334%) within phase one trials<\/a> despite the fact early trials determine safety, tolerability, and dosing \u2014 the foundation of all future research. <\/p>\n

\u201cEven when women are included in trials, very few report sex\u2011disaggregated data,\u201d said Hudson. \u201cWhen the outcomes aren\u2019t broken down by gender, we can\u2019t see whether the treatment works differently in women vs men, whether side effects are more common or severe in women, or whether dose, efficacy, or safety varies by sex.\u201d <\/p>\n

Women\u2019s health is too often reduced to only sexual and reproductive health, despite the fact that there are many serious and intervenable conditions that disproportionately affect women, including: depression, autoimmune diseases, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis and heart attacks (No. 1 cause of death in 37% women vs 32% men). <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are also several significant health concerns which impact women very differently to men, such as colon cancer and arterial fibrillation,\u201d she added. \u201cYet research into women\u2019s experiences of these diseases is severely lacking.\u201d <\/p>\n

Lack of knowledge surrounding women\u2019s health leads to misdiagnosis, ineffective or harmful treatments, and avoidable side effects. With women reportedly experiencing around 52% more adverse drug reactions<\/a> than men. <\/p>\n

Why the gap? <\/p>\n

\u201cFor decades, clinical studies relied on adult men <\/b>as the default population for testing efficacy and safety,\u201d the WIN chair explained. <\/p>\n

Researchers sought more homogeneous samples, avoiding hormonal fluctuations and biological variability. What\u2019s more, male\u2011only studies were also cheaper and required fewer participants. <\/p>\n

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the drug thalidomide was widely prescribed to pregnant women for morning sickness, anxiety, and insomnia, despite the fact it had never been tested on this population. <\/p>\n

As a result, more than 10,000 babies were born with deformities, and approximately 40% died shortly after birth. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe tragedy led to widespread fear of including women\u2014especially those who could become pregnant\u2014in clinical trials,\u201d said Hudson. <\/p>\n

WIN’s mission<\/p>\n

Women In Nutraceuticals (WIN) is a not-for-profit organization founded in 2021 by a cohort of global nutraceutical leaders dedicated to building support for women in nutraceuticals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It offers tools, networking, visibility, and mentoring to create an environment where women have an equal place in the leadership and evolution of the global nutraceutical industry.<\/p>\n

This resulted in decades of systematic exclusion of women from early\u2011phase studies, a male\u2011default model of drug development, and a persistent data gap that still impacts dosing, safety, and side\u2011effect knowledge today. <\/p>\n

Hudson further highlighted the need to address underrepresentation of women leading clinical trials. <\/p>\n

Research from Bharat Rawlley et al. (2023) and Celina Yong et al. (2023) reveals the gender of principal investigators can have a significant influence on the trial design and interpretation, with female investigators enrolling around 7% more women patients than studies without female investigators. <\/p>\n

Although there has been a notable increase in the proportion of women principal investigators over time, the overall representation remains relatively low, at 14-22%.<\/a> <\/p>\n

Changing the status quo <\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, it\u2019s no longer optional to include both men and women in clinical studies\u2014it\u2019s a US law since 1993,\u201d said Hudson. \u201cAnd in Europe, the product has to be studied in the population that will be using it.\u201d <\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, some scientific journals do not accept studies with men only, if there isn\u2019t a good reason for the limited design. <\/p>\n

But progress is slow, said Hudson. Today, only around 40% of participants in clinical trials are women with some explanations including: Perceived harm, lack of interest, lack of time, poor health, and travel burden. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe reasons for the lower participation rates of women in clinical trials compared to men must be solved to guarantee equal representation,\u201d Hudson said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Speaking at the launch of WINCEE (Women in Nutraceuticals Central and Eastern Europe) during NutraFood Poland last week…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":444552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[78],"tags":[196472,18,135,19,17,14883,196473],"class_list":["post-444551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-binary-shoot","tag-eire","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-pill","tag-vitals"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=444551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/444552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=444551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=444551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=444551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}