Category: Women’s Health
Running on empty: Female athletes’ health and performance at risk from not eating enough
When the energy consumed from food becomes insufficient to meet the demands of high physical activity levels, a state of imbalance occurs called low energy availability. Low energy availability can disrupt hormones and metabolism in as little as five days.
COVID-19 vaccination and boosting during pregnancy benefits pregnant people and newborns
The researchers found that pregnant women who received the COVID-19 vaccines generated antibodies against specific types of SARS-CoV-2. These antibodies crossed the placenta and were also found in the cord blood of vaccinated participants. This likely conferred some protection in the newborns against infection immediately after birth—a critical time when they are vulnerable to severe COVID-19 disease but are too young to be vaccinated.
Women get far more migraines than men – a neurologist explains why, and what brings relief
More than three times as many women as compared to men get migraines, and women’s migraines are more frequent, more disabling and longer-lasting than men’s.
Doctors Emerge as Political Force in Battle Over Abortion Laws in Ohio and Elsewhere
Doctors who previously never mixed work with politics are jumping into the abortion debate by lobbying state lawmakers, campaigning, forming political action committees and trying to get reproductive rights protected by state law.
FDA approves first daily over-the-counter birth control pill, Opill – a pharmacist and public health expert explain this new era in contraception
The FDA’s approval of the first-ever over-the-counter daily birth control pill means that people could soon get them from the same aisles as aspirin, eye drops or condoms.
Vaccination in pregnancy greatly reduces risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19, and protects babies up to 6 months after birth
Extensive evidence shows COVID-19 vaccinations in pregnancy are safe, when given at any time during the pregnancy.
Hot flushes, night sweats, brain fog? Here’s what we know about phytoestrogens for menopausal symptoms
It is estimated more than one-third of women seek complementary or alternative medicines to manage menopausal symptoms. But do they work? Or are they a waste of time and considerable amounts of money?
Cytomegalovirus lies dormant in most US adults and is the leading infectious cause of birth defects, but few have heard of it
“Why didn’t anyone tell me about this virus?” is a frequent response I hear from parents upon learning their newborn is infected with cytomegalovirus, or CMV. Although more than half of the U.S. population will be infected with CMV by the age of 40 and the disease is common worldwide, few people have ever heard of it.
Hospitals in Two States Denied an Abortion to a Miscarrying Patient. Investigators Say They Broke Federal Law.
After her water broke too early, Mylissa Farmer was denied abortion care at emergency rooms in Missouri and Kansas. The Biden administration says the hospitals violated federal law.
Risk of rehospitalization in younger women after heart attack nearly double that of men
Higher rates of risk factors such as obesity, heart failure, and depression among women most likely contributed to the disparity.
After Idaho’s Strict Abortion Ban, OB-GYNs Stage a Quick Exodus
Later this month, the hospital, founded in 1949 near the shores of Lake Pend Oreille, will stop providing services for expectant mothers, forcing patients across northern Idaho to travel at least an additional hour for care. In June, a second Idaho hospital, Valor Health, in the rural city of Emmett, will also halt labor and delivery services. Those decisions came within months of Idaho’s abortion ban, one of the nation’s strictest.
Emergency contraception is often confused with abortion pills – here’s how Plan B and other generic versions work to prevent pregnancy
There are two types of emergency contraception pills. The most widely known is levonorgestrel, which is sold in the U.S. under the brand name Plan B, along with numerous generic versions. The second type of emergency contraception pill is ulipristal acetate, which is sold under the brand name ella. Both Plan B and ella work by delaying ovulation
Anti-mifepristone court decisions rely on medical misinformation about abortion and questionable legal reasoning
All the risks associated with medical abortion – and therefore the time and resources doctors must spend caring for patients – will be higher if pregnant people are compelled to have surgical abortions or to give birth.
Planning for a baby? Why both men and women should consider quitting alcohol before and during pregnancy
While the focus tends to be on a woman’s use of alcohol before and during pregnancy, an increasing amount of evidence indicates that men’s alcohol use also plays a role when it comes to the health of the baby. Indeed, alcohol can affect sperm DNA, in some cases reducing fertility and the potential to conceive.
The FDA’s rule change requiring providers to inform women about breast density could lead to a flurry of questions
Breast density matters for two reasons. Most importantly, dense breast tissue can hide cancer on a mammogram. About 40% of breast cancers will go unseen on mammography in the densest breasts, labeled “extremely dense breasts,” and about 25% will go undetected in heterogeneously dense breasts.