Redefining Pain: The Funding Disparity within Medical Research

Is pain a quantifiable measure? By whose standards are we deciding what pain is valid and what pain is worth curing? Our nation’s agencies and policies suggest a more serious consideration of men’s pain than women’s.  

Funding for research is often determined by people who do not accurately represent the population most affected. These positions have historically been filled by men, leaving women underrepresented in medical research decisions (Pérez-Sánchez et al., 2021). This leads to an inaccurate allocation of research funds, as this leaves room for bias when it comes to disease research prioritization. This is often reflected by a lack of priority for diseases not represented by those in charge of these institutes. A prime example of this imbalance in research funding is shown with endometriosis funding. 

Defining Pain in the Medical Field

Endometriosis is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as “a disease in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus.” (World Health Organization: WHO, 2023) Endometriosis is also associated with “severe, life-impacting pain during periods, sexual intercourse, bowel movements and/or urination, chronic pelvic pain, abdominal bloating, nausea, fatigue, and sometimes depression, anxiety, and infertility” (World Health Organization: WHO, 2023). Despite this disease developing in women as they enter reproductive age, screening technology is inadequate, and there is currently no cure. Endometriosis affects up to 11% of women in the United States between the ages of 15 to 44, yet screening for the disease is not a part of testing during an annual physical (Office on Women’s Health, n.d.). This is primarily because endometriosis can present itself in many different ways, with the primary symptom being pain.

One study cited by the Harvard Health Publishing Journal states that women were half as likely to be prescribed pain medication after a coronary bypass surgery in contrast to men (Harvard Health, 2017). A different study from The New England Journal of Medicine details that women were seven times as likely to be discharged in the middle of a heart attack than men (Nabel, 2000). These findings suggest that the same type of pain is viewed differently when expressed by a male or female patient, causing inadequate detection of diseases. 

Comparing Funding for Male Versus Female-Dominated Diseases

According to the NIH’s funding estimates for research, endometriosis was granted $29 million for medical research in 2024 (National Institutes of Health, 2023). In comparison, prostate cancer received $322 million in the same year, even though only 0.112% of American male citizens are affected by this disease, 60% of whom are at or above the age of 65 (American Cancer Society, 2023). 

This comparison is not to discredit the need for medical research on prostate cancer but rather to note the unbalanced division of money. If the value of medical research is defined by reducing the greatest amount of suffering within a population as possible, it would then make sense to allocate money based on how affected the population is by a certain disease. In the example of prostate cancer, it seems unreasonable that research for this disease receives 11 times as much money as research for endometriosis despite it affecting a drastically smaller population. However, prostate cancer isn’t the only example of this disparity. Uterine cancer is the fourth most common cancer for women in the United States, affecting a similar percentage of Americans as prostate cancer, yet it received only $42 million in funding in 2024, compared to the $322 million that prostate cancer received (National Institutes of Health, 2023). 

Realigning Medical Research

One solution to targeting this bias within medical research is redefining pain. Pain goes beyond a scale of one to ten. It presents differently in varying genders, races, and ages. The definition of a disease or even a symptom must be representative of the entire population. In the example of gender, pain cannot only be defined by using the male body standards, as that is not representative of all who experience pain. As mentioned in the Harvard Journal, most medical testing is conducted on men and applied to women (Harvard Health, 2017). However, this is based on the incorrect assumption that pain presents the same in both men and women. To accurately diagnose, cure, and fund the research of diseases that affect a large number of people, all demographics of a population must be considered. This includes having gender diversity in the institutions involved with medical research and leadership positions within it.

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