Regretting Botox 🤔

the top things to know in women’s health and wellness today:

  • Republicans are holding up government spending (again). But this time, it could lead to *millions* of pregnant and postpartum women and their children not getting food assistance and going hungry, for the first time in decades. 
     
  • Nearly 1 in 10 adolescents have used questionable diet products without a doctors’ prescription, according to a massive new analysis. The most popular weight loss tool? Diet pills. 
     
  • One woman explains why she got botox as she neared 40 — and why she regrets it now

JUMP TO…

Everything
Fertility
Abortion Access
Metabolism + Weight
Oncology
Wellness + Beauty

 

TOP STORIES TODAY: the most important reads we’ve found, and why they matter.

EVERYTHING

Millions of Pregnant + Postpartum Women Could Go Hungry in America

What: Extreme Republicans are holding up a government funding bill and insisting a food program for women and children that has been funded for decades not get a budget increase this year, despite increasing food prices.

Why it matters: Millions of pregnant and postpartum women and their children could start losing this vital assistance and go hungry as a result. One eye-popping statistic: “Roughly half of all infants born in the United States receive [these] benefits.”

Source: New York Times

FERTILITY

Researchers Think They May Have Noninvasive Way to Identify Best Embryos

What: Researchers at UC San Diego announced they were able to identify the best performing embryos using “exRNA” cellular material that is left behind in the petri dish.

Why it matters: If effective on a larger scale, it could help reduce the need to rely on visual characteristics or biopsies of embryos to get a successful IVF pregnancy.

Source: UC San Diego

ABORTION ACCESS

Idaho Bill Proposes Calling Fetus A “Preborn Child”, Putting Birth Control at Risk

What: Idaho has become ground zero for extreme abortion legislation along with Texas, and this latest bill is no exception. The legislation would change how state laws refers to a fetus, instead using “preborn child.”

Why it matters: This is a step that could lead to problems with IVF procedures (are embryos “preborn children”?) and potentially birth control.

Source: Idaho News 6

METABOLISM + WEIGHT

Adolescents Using Diet Pills and Other Sham Weight Loss Products

What: A massive analysis that looked at over 90 studies and nearly 605,000 participants found that almost 1 in 10 adolescents have used “ineffective and potentially harmful nonprescribed weight-loss products in their lifetime.” Those products included diuretics, laxatives, and diet pills taken without a prescription. Girls were far more likely to use these products, and diet pills were the most common.

Why it matters: There are potential long-term negative health consequences that can come with using (and especially misusing) these products, especially at such a young age.

Source: JAMA Network Open

ONCOLOGY

Breast Cancer That Returns a Second Time Almost Always Found By Mammogram

What: A look-back study of 1,550 women who had “ductal carcinoma in situ” (DCIS) breast cancer found that of the women who had a recurrence of cancer within 10 years, over 74% were identified via imaging (mostly mammograms), 20% were identified by patients doing a self-exam, and only around 2% were found by doctors during physical exams.

Why it matters: Going to the doctor isn’t enough to identify recurring case of cancer, imaging is needed.

Source: Medscape  

WELLNESS + BEAUTY

Columnist: “Botox Destroyed What I Liked About My Face”

What: New York Times columnist Jessica Grose explains why she got botox as she neared 40– and why she regrets it now.

Why it matters: It’s always good to hear perspectives on the pros and cons of procedures – the entire internet is incentivized to feed us positive information on products so people make money through affiliate links.

Source: New York Times

Meghan McCarthy

Maternie was founded in 2017 by Meghan McCarthy. Meghan has spent her career digging through information and breaking it down for readers. After spending seven years reporting on Capitol Hill, Meghan co-founded at Morning Consult, where she built and led the company's content operation. She also helped build and lead Courier Newsroom, a progressive media organization. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Atlantic, NPR, and other national news outlets.