Dr. Aliabadi has talked before about how important it is for women to be able to advocate for themselves at the doctor’s office. She recently spoke at Fortune Magazine’s Brainstorm Health conference about the dangers to women’s health when doctors dismiss their concerns.
We’re proud to share some of her insights from that conference.
Women get dismissed by doctors—and it’s led to devastating consequences for cancer, says the OB/GYN Olivia Munn credits with saving her life
Ladies, you’ve likely been there. Whether at your primary care physician’s office for a routine physical or in the emergency room with a more pressing ailment, your healthcare concerns weren’t heard, or worse—were ignored.
When it comes to cancer, getting the brush-off from your doctor can be deadly, Dr. Thaïs Aliabadi, an OB/GYN and cohost of the SHE MD podcast, stressed Tuesday during Fortune Magazine’s Brainstorm Health conference in Dana Point, Calif.
“Women in general get dismissed when they go to the physician,” Aliabadi said. “Our complaints are dismissed and every time we open our mouths, they tell us we’re exaggerating our symptoms, it’s PMS (premenstrual syndrome), it’s anxiety. So that’s the starting point of a woman going to a physician.”
Aliabadi was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019 at age 49—despite having no genetic mutations and no family history of the disease. In addition, all of her imaging had been benign. She previously told Fortune she’d used a breast cancer risk assessment calculator to determine that her lifetime risk of developing the disease was 37%. By comparison, the American Cancer Society puts a woman’s average risk at 13%.
Aliabadi opted for a prophylactic double mastectomy, a procedure she said her doctors had told her was unnecessary. But a week after the surgery, she learned cancer had been present.
“If I told you this plane had a 12.5% chance of crashing, would you board it?” she asked the Brainstorm Health audience. “But when you tell a woman that [they] have a 12.5% chance of getting breast cancer, they’re like, ‘It’s not a big deal, I don’t have it in my family.’ Even if you don’t have it in your family, you start at 12.5%.”
A number of other factors, such as being overweight or having dense breasts, increase a woman’s breast cancer risk.
“If [your risk] is 20% or above, that means you fall into the high-risk category and you have to start your imaging as early as 30, not 40,” Aliabadi said. “And you have to add MRI to it, which is exactly what I did for myself and Olivia Munn.”
Yes, that Olivia Munn, the 43-year-old actress who revealed her breast cancer diagnosis in March. Munn, who said in an Instagram post that Aliabadi “saved my life,” had a medical history that closely mirrored that of her OB/GYN: a clean mammogram and no genetic mutations, yet a lifetime risk of 37%. Further imaging led to a biopsy, which revealed cancer. Munn, too, had a double mastectomy.
“All [Munn’s] friends were telling her, ‘Why is your doctor so paranoid?’” Aliabadi said. “With my ‘paranoia,’ she had three cancer lesions on her right and one on her left breast.”
Read the full article by Lindsey Leake on Fortune.
Get an OB/GYN who listens to you. Call Dr. Aliabadi
Along with her warm, compassionate team, Dr. Aliabadi provides medical care and support to women in every stage of their lives — from routine exams to pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause. Even as a medical professional, Dr. Aliabadi has had her health concerns dismissed by doctors in the past.
When you choose Dr. Aliabadi as your Los Angeles OB/GYN, you’re guaranteed a doctor who will hear your concerns and get to the bottom of any health problems (or even just provide preventative care).
Dr. Aliabadi has been a practicing OB/GYN in Los Angeles since 2002. She serves as an official gynecologist for many royal families and “celebrities,” as well as instructing Cedars Sinai Medical Center residents and medical students at the University of Southern California.
We invite you to establish care with Dr. Aliabadi. Please make an appointment online or call us at (844) 863-6700.
The practice of Dr. Thais Aliabadi is conveniently located for patients throughout Southern California and the Los Angeles area, near Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Santa Monica, West Los Angeles, Culver City, Hollywood, Venice, Marina del Rey, Malibu, Manhattan Beach, and Downtown Los Angeles, to name a few.
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