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FERIILITY
IVF Without the Mature Egg Wait (And Shots)
What: A fertility biotech company announced the first live birth of a baby conceived via IVF using eggs that were matured in a lab process outside the human body. Typically, women undergoing IVF have had up to two weeks of high-dose hormone shots to stimulate the release of mature eggs. This process could avoid that.
Key line: “Instead, Fertilo uses engineered, young ovarian support cells to recreate the natural egg maturation process in a laboratory setting. This process replaces 80% of hormone injections required with traditional IVF, and reduces the duration of treatment cycles to just three days.”
Source: Inside Precision Medicine
ABORTION ACCESS
Survey Finds Women Surprised by Abortion Pill Pain
What: British researchers surveyed women in the UK about the pain they expected to feel while taking abortion pills. They found among 1,600 women, about half said the pain was more than expected, with 40% saying pain was severe.
Key line: “Women are often told to expect cramping akin to strong menstrual cramps during a medication abortion, both in the U.K. and in the U.S. While some respondents felt that was an accurate description, others said they felt unprepared and that the pain aspect of medication abortion was ‘sugar-coated’ or downplayed.”
Source: NBC News
The (Lack of) State Maternal Mortality Committees
What: ProPublica digs into maternal mortality committees in abortion ban states. The committees are supposed to be apolitical boards of medical experts looking at the cause of death associated with pregnancy, but an investigation shows that is often not happening in states that have banned abortion.
Key line: “In fact, we found that in a few states, political leaders who backed the bans have stood in the way of measuring their consequences. They have dismissed committees, slowing down their work. They have weeded out members openly critical of abortion bans and supportive of transparency. …Other state committees have not made changes to systematically examine the role abortion bans are playing in maternal deaths, officials acknowledged, though some said they might note it as a contributing factor if it appears in the records. ‘If the committee discovers a trend that raises a particular concern, it could decide to include that information in its reports,’ South Carolina officials said.”
Source: ProPublica
MENOPAUSE
Pain During Sex Less Common for Nonheterosexual Women in Menopause
What: A study in the Menopause Society’s journal found that among 230 female veterans, nonheterosexual women report better sexual functioning (for example, they are less likely to report pain) than their heterosexual counterparts during menopause.
Key line: “’The results of this study highlight that menopause and aging substantively affect sexual health and functioning in women Veterans and, further, that experiences may vary significantly based on sexual identity. Additional research is needed to better understand the unique needs of midlife sexual minority women and to promote the provision of affirming healthcare to sexual minority women Veterans,’ says Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director for The Menopause Society.”
Source: Menopause
ONCOLOGY
Asking Women What They Think About Breast Screening Formats
What: A study of women’s attitudes towards “molecular breast imaging” to identify potential cancer in dense breast tissue found that the length of the scan time (40 minutes) and the radiation dose were generally viewed as acceptable if the benefits of the scan were explained.
Key line: “Women consider MBI to be an acceptable breast imaging modality; they wish to be offered personalised, risk-based screening, with tests that offer favourable risk-benefit ratios. High-quality patient information enabling informed decision-making is essential.”
Source: Nature
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