Copyright walesonline
Vicky Pattison, who is currently taking part in this year's Strictly Come Dancing, has been campaigning against medical misogyny and has called for there to be better support for women. For many years, Vicky, who recently opened up about the 'bad decisions' in her past, suffered and knew that something wasn't right. However, she felt as though her symptoms and concerns were ignored and dismissed by doctors as having PMS. After suffering for five years, Vicky received an official diagnosis of premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) in 2023. PMDD has been characterised as: "A very severe form of premenstrual syndrome (PMS). It causes a range of emotional and physical symptoms every month during the week or two before your period. It's sometimes referred to as 'severe PMS'." Now, the BBC star is advocating for more to be done on women's health and has spoken to Good Morning Britain regarding their campaign highlighting issues of medical misogyny. In a pre-recorded clip on Tuesday's show, she said: "A shocking number of women have been misdiagnosed, have been dismissed and ignored when it comes to female reproductive health. "These women are suffering with Adamariosis, endometriosis, PMDD, and so many more. I don't think it's too much to ask that they have a bit more support." Exclusive research by the ITV programme has shown that three in five women suffer problems related to their reproductive health. Over half of those women were misdiagnosed, and for more than one in three, it took more than a year to get a diagnosis. In a pre-recorded clip, Vicky was seen meeting with the Health Secretary, West Streeting, who has promised that there will be 'action, not just words. He commented, "I want to make sure that Vicky is involved in the development of our renewed women's health strategy. That we're taking up Good Morning Britain's campaign for real practical change. "The NHS needs to listen to women, needs to listen to women when they're describing pain and symptoms, be more precarious in order to get a diagnosis ." Although the Strictly star is happy with the progress so far, she's adamant that more needs to be done on the matter as has vowed not to stop. She added: "Knowing that there are hundreds of thousands, millions of women suffering in silence, being dismissed and ignored, made to feel ashamed- I am more galvanised than ever to do something about this." Good Morning Britain is available to watch on ITVX.
