Aaron Hartman, MDFunctional Medicine Specialist | Clinical Researcher

90% of patients with fibromyalgia are women. No And women are disproportionately medically gaslit

12 Feb 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:51

In this monologue, Dr. Aaron Hartman highlights that about 90% of fibromyalgia patients are women and critiques the longstanding medical dismissal of their symptoms as psychosomatic. He argues that fibromyalgia may be linked to biological factors such as yeast overgrowth, Lyme disease, mold exposure, gut dysbiosis, and nutrient deficiencies, yet these possibilities are often ignored. The physician attributes this neglect to a broader pattern of medical gaslighting, where clinicians dismiss symptoms they cannot readily explain. He urges listeners—especially women with fibromyalgia—to share their personal stories to build a collective movement aimed at ending this gaslighting and improving recognition and treatment of the condition.

Chapters

90% of patients with fibromyalgia are women. And yet we've overlooked this diagnosis for decades. We've told women there's nothing wrong with them, it's all in their head, they can't be helped. Now we know actually, fibromyalgia can be related to yeast overgrowth syndrome, Lyme mold, gut issues, nutrient deficiencies. Why do we still overlook these patients? And why is it mainly women? It's this concept of medical gaslighting. Taking these symptoms we can't quite understand, doesn't make sense to us in the healthcare professional expert world. And we say, since I can't understand it, nothing must be going on. Nothing could be further from the truth. As a physician, I was trained to listen to my patient. If you listen long enough, the patient will tell you what's going on. We've lost that ability. Have you ever had a physician not listen to you, blow you off and say, eh, don't worry about it. We're trying to collect stories to actually get this information out there, because this has been going on far too long. And you can make a difference by sharing your story, become part of this revolution. We have to stop the medical gaslighting today and you can be a part of it.