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EVERYTHING
British Officials: It’s Medical Misogyny
What: A British government report found gynecological conditions and the procedures used to treat them get inadequate attention and care, due to a lack of education among healthcare professionals, stigma, and “medical misogyny.” They found that symptoms are simply normalized and ignored.
Key line: “The report said women were being left in pain and discomfort that ‘interferes with every aspect of their daily lives’, including their education, careers, relationships and fertility, while their conditions worsen. It also found there to be a ‘clear lack of awareness and understanding of women’s reproductive health conditions among primary healthcare practitioners’ and concluded that gynaecological care is not being treated as a priority.”
Source: The Guardian
History Repeats Itself with RFK, Jr. Wellness Peddling
What: The Atlantic looks at America’s long history with wellness peddlers, and finds a throughline from characters from the 19th and early 20th centuries and HHS secretary nominee RFK, Jr.
Key line: “[Benedict] Lust was remarkably similar to Kennedy, who decries pesticides, opposes fluoride in tap water, and has long stoked baseless fears about vaccines. Kennedy has said doctors should recommend gym memberships and ‘good’ food to diabetic patients. He has proposed that people who are dependent on antidepressants or opioids could recover on ‘wellness farms,’ an idea remarkably similar to Lust’s well-known naturopathy retreat in New Jersey, which opened in 1896. ‘His arguments are variations on the same theme that’s been present in public discourse about health in the Western world for a long time,’ Colleen Derkatch, a rhetoric professor at Toronto Metropolitan University and the author of Why Wellness Sells, told me.”
Source: The Atlantic
PREGNANCY + POSTPARTUM
A Blood Test for PPD Risks
What: Motherly looks at a study examining a blood test that can help identify postpartum depression. Researchers at Johns Hopkins identified 13 mRNAs linked to PPD, which could allow early detection for women at high risk of struggling after birth.
Key line: “The way we diagnose PPD is kind of like asking someone to navigate through a storm blindfolded. It depends on clinical interviews, which require moms to not only recognize but articulate what’s wrong—something that’s incredibly hard when you’re sleep-deprived and just trying to hold it all together. A biological marker changes all of that.”
Source: Motherly
ONCOLOGY
Late-Stage Breast Cancer Diagnoses Increase
What: Late-stage breast cancers are on the rise in America, especially among women ages 20 to 39 and over 75, according to a study from the journal Radiology. One cause may be the COVID pandemic, which led to drops in regular screening by 90%.
Key line: “Despite the concerning statistics, the study suggested that solutions are within reach. Increasing screening rates, expanding healthcare access, and ensuring follow-up care after abnormal mammograms could make a difference.”
Source: ABC News
Federal Health Panel Recommends Self-Administered Cervical Cancer Screen
What: A federal health panel backed women over age 30 collecting their own vaginal sample via swab to test for HPV, which causes most cervical cancers. This can replace the pap smear, which requires a cervical exam by a health professional and a procedure to collect a sample from the cervix. Women would do the self-administered swab at their doctors’ office, similar to a urine sample.
Key line: “The advice was issued amid growing concern about a falloff in cancer screenings, and confusion resulting from changes over time in screening regimens and tests used for early detection and prevention of cervical cancer.”
Source: New York Times
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