The 8 Most Common Diseases in Women

Common diseases in women have many causes, but some of them will surprise you with their unexpected etiology. Here we present 8 of them.

Written and verified by el biólogo Samuel Antonio Sánchez Amador.

Last update: 21 August, 2024

On average, women live longer than men. According to the National Institute of Statistics, in high-income regions, women live 86.05 years, while men reduce this figure to 81. Even so, there are several common diseases in women that may need to be addressed in order to reach old age and be in good health.

Hormonal imbalances during pregnancy and menopause, the particularities of the female reproductive system, and the presence of the breasts lead to certain diseases being (almost) unique to this genre. If you want to know what the eight most common diseases in women are and how to detect them effectively, keep reading.

What are the most common diseases in women?

Before we begin, it’s important to emphasize that we’re going to look at diseases with an almost exclusive prevalence in the female gender. If we stick 100% to the term common, surely the cited diseases would be the most typical among the population in general, such as diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and allergies.

To put into perspective the prevalence of certain conditions among women, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows us the leading causes of death in women around the world:

• Heart disease (including ischemic heart disease) is responsible for 21.8% of all female deaths in the world.
• Cancer, on the other hand, is the cause of death in 20.7% of cases.
• Chronic diseases of the lower respiratory tract (such as COPD) are placed after malignant neoplasms, with 6.2% of deaths.
• After these three most common causes, the following are distributed in descending order: Stroke (6.2%), Alzheimer’s disease (6.1%), unintentional injuries (4.4%), diabetes (2.7 %), pneumonia (2.1%), kidney disease (1.8%), and septicemia (1.6%).

With these data, we can begin to intuit what the most prevalent diseases among the female gender are. Here we’ll show you eight of them and how to detect them as soon as possible.

1. Breast cancer

Unfortunately, we must start this list off with breast cancer. As indicated by the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2020, 2.3 million women were diagnosed with this type of cancer, and 685,000 died in the same time interval. To date, there are an estimated 7.8 million patients alive with this neoplasm.

Cancers respond to cellular mutations that disrupt the rate of growth and senescence of cells, causing these to be stored uncontrollably, resulting in the formation of tumors. According to the American Cancer Society, many of the malignant breast tumors are estrogen-dependent, as this hormone encourages the growth of breast cells.

Be that as it may, it’s important to emphasize that you should never lose hope after this diagnosis. The overall survival rate is estimated at 82.8% (as long as treatment is received). In addition, the chances of cure after surgery, radiotherapy, or targeted therapy reach almost 100% if the tumor is detected in the early stages.

2. Diseases related to childbirth

Gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, eclampsia, hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), ectopic pregnancy, and many other conditions are only experienced during pregnancy. Some of them involve bothersome vomiting and nausea but aren’t serious (like HG).

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) puts into perspective the importance of diseases related to childbirth, collecting the following figures:

• Maternal mortality is unacceptably high. Every day, 830 women die globally from complications derived from the process of pregnancy or the delivery itself.
• This translates to more than 300,000 women dying each year, almost all in low-income countries, and from preventable causes.
• The countries with the highest maternal mortality rates are India (50,000 victims annually), Nigeria (40,000), and the Democratic Republic of Congo (21,000). These three impoverished countries, added to seven others, account for more than 60% of the deaths of pregnant women in the world.

Without a doubt, the act of giving rise to life can be a real danger in some low-income regions. Emphasizing the problem of the situation is essential because, outside the West, women even struggle to live to see the birth of their children.

3. Depression

You may not expect a condition like this among the eight most common diseases in women, but making emotional disorders visible is as important as raising awareness of physical ones. It’s estimated that one in four people will experience a psychological illness throughout their life. Unfortunately, 35-50% of them won’t receive adequate care.

450 million people are affected by such a disorder worldwide, and, according to estimates, up to 300 million of them suffer from depression. As indicated by the portal Communicates Mental Health, depression is more than twice as common in women than in men.

It should be noted that being sad constantly isn’t normal. If your mood worries you, don’t hesitate to ask for help. Long-term antidepressant therapy and counseling help to combat depression.

4. Cardiovascular diseases

As we’ve mentioned previously, cardiovascular diseases are the cause of more than 20% of female deaths worldwide. It’s striking, because men are more prone to coronary heart disease, while women are prone to cerebrovascular accidents (CVAs) and heart failure.

As indicated by the Texas Health portal, hormone levels could have something to do with this trend. Postmenopausal women have been shown to be more likely to develop cardiovascular disease.

One in four women over 65 have cardiovascular disease, but this doesn’t mean that they’re unavoidable conditions. There are certain things that can be done to reach old age with a healthy heart if you’re a woman:

• Don’t smoke: The habit of smoking, added to the consumption of oral contraceptives, is a clear predisposing agent when it comes to cardiovascular diseases.
• Control high blood pressure: Although this condition can’t be cured, the right diet and physical exercise will help a great deal to alleviate its symptoms.
• Avoid obesity: Obesity is a clear predisposing factor for cardiovascular disease. Again, having a healthy relationship with food and staying active is essential to avoiding these conditions.

5. Chronic pain and chronic pelvic pain

Pain is a signal from the nervous system that something is wrong within the body. Acute pain represents a specific injury to some organ or surface structure, while chronic pain is less localized but persistent.

Although it’s not a disease in and of itself, chronic pain can be included within the group of the most common diseases in women. Many older adults have this type of discomfort. According to the United States National Library of Medicine, women report more chronic pain than men.

This same source indicates that the female gender is more prone to suffer from diseases that cause chronic pain, especially if we talk about discomfort in the pelvic region:

• Endometriosis: Occurs when small parts of the tissue that line the uterus (endometrium) grow into other pelvic organs.
• Musculoskeletal problems: Fibromyalgia or pelvic floor muscle tension can occur in the long term in women.
• Chronic pelvic inflammatory disease: it occurs with lesions generated by an infection in the pelvic organs, generally of the STI type (sexually transmitted infection).

Chronic pain isn’t always curable, but it can be alleviated with pain relievers, acupuncture, physical therapy, and specialized surgeries. If you feel constant discomfort in the pelvic region and it’s not explained by any already diagnosed condition, don’t hesitate to go to the gynecologist.

6. Osteoporosis

Although bone tissue is conceived as an immovable and hard material, the reality is that it’s in constant dissolution, replacement, and synthesis. You must bear in mind that more than 99% of the calcium in our body is found in our bones.

Osteoporosis is a disease in which there’s a decrease in bone mass density and is closely associated with age. It’s one of the most common diseases in elderly women. After menopause, the destruction of bone tissue occurs at a faster rate than its synthesis.

From an epidemiological point of view, osteoporosis affects 35% of women over 50 years of age; a percentage that exceeds 50% in those who are over 75 years old. Osteoporosis favors serious accidents, such as broken bones and hip dysplasias.

7. Cervical cancer

Cervical cancer is another of the eminently female diseases, as men lack this structure. More than 70% of the cases of this neoplasm are caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), especially by the subtypes HPV 16 and HPV 18. There are more than 100 variants of the human papillomavirus, but only about 14 are carcinogenic of high risk.

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women worldwide, and it’s estimated that more than 570,000 new cases are detected each year. Almost 90% of annual deaths (about 311,000) occur in low-income countries.

Fortunately, there are vaccines available to immunize patients against HPVs 16 and 18, which can prevent the development of cervical cancer from sexually transmitted infection (STI). In addition, periodic gynecological examinations allow the detection of precancerous lesions and their treatment before the condition worsens.

8. Multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is another one of those diseases that’s more common in women than in men. According to the portal Con La Eslerosis Multiple, there are an estimated 2.5 million patients with this condition worldwide. The prevalence in the female gender continues to increase, as there are two or three female patients for every male with the disease.

MS is considered an autoimmune disease in which the body’s protective cells attack the myelin sheaths, protective coverings that coat nerve fibers and protect them from external damage. Over time, this disease causes progressive and irreversible damage to neural networks, resulting in clear motor symptoms.

This disorder manifests itself more frequently in female patients between the ages of 20 and 40, although it can be diagnosed at any point in the person’s life. Some of the symptoms, in order of severity, are as follows:

1. Numbness and weakness of the extremities, usually unilateral.
2. Sensations of electric shocks when performing certain movements with the neck, especially when bending forward.
3. Lack of coordination, unsteady gait, and unexplained tremors.
4. Vision problems: These are sometimes the first signs of multiple sclerosis, as they show demyelinating optic neuritis prior to motor damage. It’s common to lose vision in only one eye sporadically, have pain when moving the affected eye, and see double.
5. Fatigue and dizziness
6. Slurring of words.
7. Sexual, intestinal, and bladder problems.

Over time, the patient will lose more and more muscle function. This disease is incurable, but there are treatments to counteract attacks of sclerosis (corticosteroids and plasmapheresis) and drugs to slow down the progression of the disease.

Common diseases in women and their current situation

We have made a selection of eight common diseases in women; some of them are exclusive to the feminine gender. For example, chronic pelvic pain due to uterine dysfunctionalities and cervical cancer.

As a final note, we want to highlight that most of the conditions cited here report a much higher fatality in low-income countries. The mortality rate for women in poor countries is higher.

Beyond problems during childbirth, women are more prone to physical violence committed by men, systemic oppression, and conditions such as depression or sexually transmitted infections (STIs) due to forced sexual practices. Without a doubt, turning the social perspective toward a much more homogeneous one is necessary for some of these diseases to reduce their prevalence.