children at older ages. Even so, the CDC estimates that about
60 percent of maternal deaths are preventable. And between
white women and women of color, the discrepancy is stag-
gering, with black women three to four times as likely to die
from pregnancy or childbirth complications.
Our health-care system has done a wonderful job of protect-
ing and improving the outcomes for newborns and preterm
babies, but at the expense of ignoring the mothers. In 2018
Congress took a step in the right direction, passing legislation
to fund and support states’ efforts to reduce maternal deaths.
JUST AS THEY’RE INTEGRAL when new lives enter the world,
women are guardians and anchors when long lives reach the
end. Women tend to live longer than men (those 85 and older
outnumber their male counterparts two to one). Many are
doubly exposed to health-care problems because they’re car-
ing for the young and the old in addition to themselves. Ellis
is an award-winning, intelligent, driven surgeon in the prime
of her career when she is diagnosed with early onset Alzhei-
mer’s dementia.^8 It ruins her career and eventually leads to
the end of her life. Alzheimer’s disease disproportionately
affects women, on two levels. Almost two-thirds of adults 65
or older with the disease are women. And of the more than
16 million Americans who provide unpaid care to a person
with Alzheimer’s or other dementias, 66 percent are women.
As Americans over 65 become a larger share of the pop-
ulation, that almost certainly will mean more women with
Alzheimer’s and fewer younger women to be caregivers. It’s
one more reason to take a hard look now at our approaches to
health and wellness needs, and make improvements.
In 2015, United Nations member states agreed to try to pro-
vide basic health care for every child, man, and woman by
- Today, when hundreds of millions of people can’t find
or afford health care, we’re a long way from that. But it’s a goal
worth fighting for. Each of us can start by advocating for what
she personally needs, and what her family and community
and country will need, to live lives of health and well-being.
On Grey’s Anatomy a few seasons ago, Meredith Grey—the
Meredith I mentioned earlier—barely survives a brutal assault.
When she recovers, she offers some powerful advice about the
importance of speaking up. I’ll give her the last word here:
“Don’t let fear keep you quiet. You have a voice, so use
it. Speak up. Raise your hands. Shout your answers. Make
yourself heard.” j
Physician Zoanne Clack is an executive producer on the ABC series
Grey’s Anatomy and has been one of the writers since the show
began in 2005. She’s also an adviser for all medical aspects of
the show. Clack completed a residency in emergency medicine,
has a master’s degree in public health, and spent a year at the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention working in interna-
tional emergency medicine. She has one son and twin daughters.
National Geographic Partners and the ABC Television Network are owned
by The Walt Disney Company.
- ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE
Dementia
differences
Women outnumber men
roughly two to one among
Americans with Alzheimer’s
disease, and scientists
are unraveling the factors
behind this disparity.
Lifestyle may play a role:
Women who spent time in
the paid workforce show less
memory decline than those
who didn’t. But physiological
factors also differ. The cog-
nitive tests used to catch the
disease early are less effec-
tive for women because
they tend to have better
verbal memory than men,
and catching the disease
later may lead to faster cog-
nitive decline. There are also
different genetic risk factors
for men and women. And
compared with men’s brains,
the connections in women’s
brains might provide paths
for greater spread of
protein plaques. —T M
WOMEN’S HEALTH 85