Maya Dusenbery: The Epidemic of Autoimmunity and the Dismissal of Women’s Symptoms

“It's important to me to get the facts right, and I don't see that at all at odds with a very deep and radical belief in women, in women’s stories and anecdotal evidence.” In this episode, host Caren Beilin has the opportunity to talk with author and medical researcher, Maya Dusenbery, author of the groundbreaking book, Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick. As Caren puts it, this book is “a heap of validating research that confirms the kinds of biases that go on in conventional medicine.” Thrilled to have the chance to talk with her, Caren asks Dusenbery some fundamental questions about the epidemic of autoimmunity, medical research, and gendered bias, as well as Dusenbery’s own battle with RA and autoimmunity. They discuss the importance of taking women’s personal stories seriously and seeing them as scientifically valid, the processes of writing their two distinct yet related books, and a 2017 study making a connection between autoimmunity and the copper IUD. “The common denominator,” says Dusenbery, “is this distrust of women's voices.”