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Things Only a Woman Can Do: The Past From the late 1970's until the early 1990's, most major medical research studies were conducted almost entirely on men. Women were excluded from participation in clinical trials and other studies on the basis of their potential to become pregnant, or because it was believed that their cyclical hormonal changes would confuse the results. The Society for Women's Health Research led the efforts to change federal regulations and guidelines to require that women be included in medical research funded or regulated by federal agencies. Since those changes were made in the early 1990's, medical research has begun to provide more information on women's health. However, researchers often report difficulty in finding women who are willing to volunteer to participate in research studies. The Society saw the need for an educational campaign to increase women's awareness and understanding of medical research, and of the important role individual women can play in improving both women's and general health. The Present The Society for Women's Health Research launched this public education campaign in 2003 to provide women with accurate information about volunteering for medical research. Nearly 90 other organizations joined our Alliance for Women in Clinical Research, to bring this information to women throughout the United States. The campaign continues today and brochures and educational packets are available by e-mailing info@womenshealthresearch.org. The Future The past exclusion of women from clinical trials has limited our knowledge of how diseases and conditions, and their treatment, affect women differently from men. By volunteering for medical research, women contribute to researchers' efforts to expand our knowledge of how best to treat and prevent disease. In time, treatment and prevention efforts will be responsive to a patient's characteristics, such as age, sex and ethnicity.
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