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EVERYTHING
Nearly 25% More Women Dying from Alcohol
What: More people are dying from alcohol-related liver disease now than in previous years, with the CDC reporting that mortality has increased 20% just from 2016 to 2022. The fastest increase is among women—nearly a quarter more women died from alcohol-related liver problems in the same time period.
Why it matters: Liver disease can have few symptoms before it becomes fatal. The risk for women increases when you drink more than seven drinks per week, and substantially increases at more than three drinks per week. A blood test to look at liver enzymes can show if someone is at risk of liver disease.
For further reading: Check out the story of Karla Adkins, a successful businesswoman who found herself facing acute liver failure at age 37.
Source: New York Times
ABORTION ACCESS
Why Pharmacies Providing Abortion Pill Matters
What: A physician in Vox explains why CVS, Walgreens, and other retail pharmacies finally being able to provide the abortion pill, mifepristone, is such a big deal: “The bigger impact of this change will likely be to increase the number of mifepristone prescribers. Under the old rule, the health care provider ‘had to be both doctor and pharmacist — meaning they had to pre-purchase the medication and stock it in their clinic in order to hand it over to a patient,’…Now, although prescribers will still have to get certified to prescribe mifepristone, they won’t also have to deal with everything that dispensing it entails.”
Why it matters: It will increase access to safe and effective healthcare women need.
Source: Vox
MENOPAUSE
Medical Journal: Don’t Over-Medicalize Menopause
What: The Lancet, a major British medical journal, issued a rallying cry on menopause, arguing that “commercial companies and individuals with vested interests have over-medicalised menopause. The framing of this natural period of transition as a disease of oestrogen deficiency that can be eased only by replacing the missing hormones fuels negative attitudes to menopause and exacerbates stigma.”
Why it matters: This journal is a big deal in the world of medicine, and its warning will be heeded by some practitioners. They also call for more education — and I agree, most women don’t know nearly enough of what’s normal and what’s not during menopause. (Let me know what you think!)
Source: The Lancet
Menopause Doesn’t Necessarily Lead to Depression
What: One of the studies included in the Lancet’s special edition on menopause found “no compelling evidence that menopause caused a universal increased risk” for depression.
Why it matters: This surprised researchers, who expected to see a correlation. As the Washington Post put it, the finding “disputes the commonly held notion that menopause consistently raises risk for mental health problems.”
Source: Washington Post
METABOLISM + WEIGHT
Ozempic Is a Brain Drug
What: Scientists don’t totally understand why weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro work as well as they do. But they are starting to understand that the drugs have a greater impact on the brain than the gut.
Why it matters: There are many more mysteries likely to be solved from these blockbuster drugs.
Source: Atlantic
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