Women's Health & Femtech: Why companies should focus on women's health

• Gender health gap: women's medicine at a disadvantage
• Lack of exercise affects women more
• Cycle and training: why women need to train differently
• Why companies should focus on women's health
• Femtech: Growing market with hurdles

Imagine wearing sportswear designed for the male body—too tight in some places, too loose in others. This is exactly what happens in medicine: diagnoses and treatments are often based on male norms, leaving women underserved.

The data is clear: women often experience different symptoms than men in conditions like heart attacks or concussions, yet these differences go unrecognized for too long. A Danish study shows that ADHD is diagnosed, on average, six years later in girls than in boys.

Women also wait up to four years longer for diagnoses of diseases such as cancer or diabetes.

According to the World Economic Forum, women spend 25% more years of their lives in poor health compared to men. Even more concerning, the rise of AI could deepen this inequality, as algorithms are primarily trained on male-centric data. Alexandra Kautzky-Willer, Professor of Gender Medicine at MedUni Vienna, warns:

Women and girls are also disproportionately affected by the global decline in physical activity, as identified by the WHO. Currently, around 31% of adults worldwide fail to meet the organization's recommended levels of activity.

On average, women are 5 percentage points less active than men—a gap that has remained unchanged since 2000. Among adolescents, the disparity is even greater: 85% of girls do not meet WHO guidelines, compared to 78% of boys.

The number of chronic diseases will therefore increase in the coming years, and even more so for a gender that is already disadvantaged in terms of healthcare.

Closing this gap is essential not only for gender equity but also to reduce the strain on healthcare systems and combat widespread chronic diseases. Industry associations such as the WFSGI emphasize that companies and brands must take responsibility, as government efforts have largely fallen short.

Differences in the data situation between the sexes also affect competitive and elite sport. Carbloading or fatty acid loading better adapted to the metabolism? How can we train safely during and after pregnancy? And what about performance and training during the menopause? These are all questions that have not yet been fully clarified, and women are underrepresented in studies. According to the "Invisible Sportswomen" studies by Emma Cowley and others, this not only affects the study participants, but also the researchers. According to the World Economic Forum, an increase in the number of women in STEM subjects offers potential to close the research gap, as female researchers focus more on women's health.

At the same time, progress is being made. Cycle-based training methods are on the rise, more and more knowledge is becoming available in training science and simply addressing, sensitizing and aligning the units to the respective cycle phase can be effective in terms of sports psychology, but also in terms of susceptibility to injury and improved performance. Irregular cycles or even the absence of a cycle are also important issues in competitive sport.

Prof. Dr. Jana Strahler from the University of Freiburg speaks of three stages at which women-specific training begins:

1. Understanding and addressing to create awareness and empowerment
2. Integrating and optimizing data to make adjustments during menstrual cramps
3. Cycle-driven maximization to take advantage of hormonal fluctuations to optimize performance.

At the same time, it warns against generalizations:

Personalized solutions, along with the integration of diverse data points from tracking devices and wearables, are becoming increasingly vital in women’s health—just as they are across the broader health sector.

Menstruation is no longer a taboo topic, but other issues, such as menopause, are only slowly gaining awareness. Femtech companies such as Embrlabs are developing wearables to regulate hot flushes, while Metluma provides women with personalized advice solutions.

Based on users' individual preferences and symptoms, data from wearable devices, insights from behavioral science and remote monitoring, the Australian company enables those affected to connect with medical professionals specializing in the treatment of peri- and menopause in a timely manner. Mental health and co-morbidities such as ADHD, metabolic syndrome and diabetes are also in focus.

The world of work must also respond. Menopausal women are often in management positions - their health challenges should not be taboo. A BCG study shows that companies with diverse management teams are more innovative and profitable. Neglecting women's health can therefore also have economic disadvantages. Georgie Drury, founder of Metluma, explains:

In the start-up world, femtech is one of the biggest buzzwords, but discussions often revolve around sales rather than impact. Despite its rapid growth, femtech still faces significant challenges. Start-ups like Flo Health have secured millions in investment, yet struggle with data privacy concerns and a lack of diversity in their founding teams. Additionally, social media algorithms make it difficult to share information on menstruation and reproductive health, limiting awareness and accessibility.

Nevertheless, integrating diverse data points, such as those from wearables and health trackers, presents major opportunities in the healthcare sector. Platforms like the Garmin Health API, which provides access to a wide range of health metrics, could revolutionize the market by enabling transparent data processing and fostering new collaborations, including in the femtech sector.

Jörn Watzke, Senior Director at Garmin Health, explains: