Why Three Conditions Are Often Missed in Women

Women’s symptoms can differ from men’s, causing delayed diagnoses. Three notable examples are endometriosis, heart disease, and ADHD, each of which often goes unrecognized in women medicalnewstoday.. Endometriosis (a condition where uterine tissue grows outside the uterus) can cause extreme pain and infertility. Yet doctors typically dismiss young women’s pelvic pain as “normal period cramps,” leading to an average diagnostic delay of many years medicalnewstoday.com. In contrast to acute male symptoms, women’s heart disease often presents without chest pain. Instead, they may have fatigue, back or jaw pain, or nausea. Consequently, many women’s heart disease is missed or diagnosed late medicalnewstoday.com. Finally, ADHD in girls often looks different than in boys. Girls tend to be inattentive rather than hyperactive, and they learn to “mask” their struggles. One review found up to 75% of women with ADHD never receive a diagnosismedicalnewstoday.com

Endometriosis: This chronic condition causes pelvic pain, heavy periods, and sometimes bowel or bladder pain medicalnewstoday.com. The problem is that young women are socialized to expect pain each month, so both patients and some doctors assume “painful periods” are normal. Specialist tests (like laparoscopy) are invasive, so many women wait 5–10 years before getting a definitive diagnosis. During that time they often get treated for unrelated issues (IBS, anxiety, etc.) instead of the real cause medicalnewstoday.com.

Coronary heart disease: Studies show women’s heart attacks are more often “silent” or atypical. Women with blocked arteries may feel only jaw pain or unusual tiredness. Research in the BMJ notes that doctors often miss female patients because traditional tests and training focused on male patterns medicalnewstoday.com. Moreover, women tend to seek help later and are less likely to get angiograms. One review explains: “Women may have more atypical symptoms … which makes diagnosis more difficult,” and “women are less likely to seek medical help,” leading to delayed treatment medicalnewstoday.com.

ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder): ADHD is stereotypically viewed as a boy’s condition characterized by hyperactivity. In girls and women, it often manifests as quiet inattentiveness and disorganization medicalnewstoday.com. Many health providers fail to recognize these signs; young girls are labeled daydreamers or shy, not hyperactive. As a result, most women with ADHD go undiagnosed medicalnewstoday.com. A Neuroscience review notes that girls often develop coping strategies and their symptoms can be mistaken for anxiety or depression medicalnewstoday.com. By adulthood, many women conclude “it’s too late” for diagnosis, even though proper treatment could still help them.

Why this matters: Missing these diagnoses has real consequences for women’s health. Late heart disease diagnosis raises mortality; untreated endometriosis can cause infertility and severe pain; undiagnosed ADHD increases anxiety and impairs work and relationships. Experts are calling for improved awareness. Clinicians are urged to recognize that women can present with different symptoms and to listen carefully. For example, a woman with unexplained fatigue and no chest pain might still need a cardiac workup medicalnewstoday.com. And primary care guidelines now emphasize asking about period pain to catch endometriosis earlier. In ADHD, doctors recommend screening girls with school or concentration issues rather than assuming anxiety.