Anesthesia is a medical state in which you lose feeling, and sometimes consciousness, so you do not feel pain during surgery or other procedures. It can affect just one area of the body or the whole body.
From Greek 'an-' meaning 'without' and 'aísthēsis' meaning 'sensation' or 'feeling'. The modern medical use grew in the 19th century with the discovery of drugs that could safely block pain.
The word literally means 'no feeling', which is why 'aesthetics'—from the same root—originally meant 'relating to perception and sensation', not just beauty. Anesthesia was such a breakthrough that it completely changed what kinds of surgery were even thinkable.
Historically, women’s pain during childbirth and medical procedures was sometimes minimized, and access to anesthesia for women was debated on religious and social grounds. Clinical research on anesthetic dosing and side effects often underrepresented women, leading to gender gaps in safety data.
Use gender-neutral language when discussing patients and avoid stereotypes about pain tolerance or emotionality by gender.
Women clinicians and researchers have significantly advanced anesthesiology and patient-safety protocols, even when their work received less recognition than that of male colleagues.
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