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EVERYTHING
Women’s Pain: Maybe It’s Leptin
What: A study in mice found that female rodents were more likely to release leptin, a hormone associated with heightened pain sensitivity, when signaling pain via “pannexin 1” channels in immune cells. That could be a key to why women feel more pain.
Key line: “Injury to a nerve can be debilitating,” says [y University of Calgary professor Dr. Tuan Trang.] “We know that a lot of preclinical research has been in male subjects. Consequently, treatments were often developed from a male-based understanding and may not be very effective in females.”.”
Source: University of Calgary
PREGNANCY + POSTPARTUM
COVID-19 Infections During Pregnancy Linked to Increased Risk of Preterm Births
What: A study on COVID-19 and pregnancy shows that individuals infected with the virus during pregnancy have an increased risk of preterm births, among other challenges. Researchers tracked a large group of pregnant individuals, finding a correlation between COVID-19 infections and higher rates of premature delivery, further emphasizing the ongoing risks to maternal health posed by the virus.
Key line: ” ‘This study revealed that women who became pregnant after the start of the pandemic were more likely to experience preterm birth, low birthweight and the need for NICU services – regardless of whether they had COVID-19 infections during their pregnancy – and that women with more severe infections and who experienced them during the latter stages of pregnancy were also at higher risk,’ says Jihong Liu, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics and the corresponding author of the paper.”
Source: Arnold School of Public Health
Study: Women Using Cannabis to Manage Nausea During Preconception and Pregnancy
What: A study of over 350,000 pregnancies found 11% of women used cannabis before conception, and over 6% did during pregnancy. And women with worse nausea and vomiting symptoms were more likely to be using cannabis. In other words, they may have been trying to alleviate symptoms that can often go without official treatment.
Key line: “This study found that preconception and prenatal cannabis use were associated with increased odds of both mild and severe NVP during the first trimester, with the highest odds observed among individuals using cannabis daily before or during early pregnancy. Findings underscore the need for patient education and medically appropriate therapies for NVP management.”
Source: Green Journal
ABORTION ACCESS
Abortion Bans Lead to Forced Pregnancies, Not Increased Fertility
What: The New York times breaks down an NBER study that found abortion bans led to higher birth rates, but not a significant increase in the overall birth rate. In other words, the research suggests that the rise in births is due to women being forced to continue pregnancies, not a baby boom. And those forced pregnancies were more likely to happen to “Black and Hispanic women, women without a college degree, and women living farthest from a clinic.”
Key line: “The rise in births was small, suggesting that most women who wanted abortions had still gotten them, said Diana Greene Foster, the director of research at Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health at the University of California at San Francisco. Still, she said, the new study was persuasive in showing the effects of bans: ‘I now feel more convinced that some people really did have to carry pregnancies to term.’”
Source: The New York Times
Texas Midwife Arrested for Providing Abortions in Texas
What: The Texas attorney general announced the state arrested and charged a Texas midwife for providing abortions in the state despite the ban. This is the first criminal charges brought under the state’s ban and also includes a charge of practicing medicine without a license. Expect right-wing media to seize on this this as an opportunity to focus on a potentially less sympathetic case.
Key line: “Holly Shearman, a midwife who runs Tomball Birth Center, where Rojas worked part-time providing prenatal care, said she was ‘shocked’ by the news of her arrest. She described Rojas as a devout Catholic and skilled midwife whose clinics provided health care to a primarily Spanish-speaking, low-income community.”
Source: Texas Tribune
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