|
EVERYTHING
Congresswomen Ask FDA for Answers on Formaldehyde Ban Delay
What: Three congresswomen are pushing the FDA to explain why it keeps delaying a promised ban on hair straightening products primarily used by Black women that contain formaldehyde. Democratic Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Shontel Brown, and Nydia Velazquez sent a letter to the FDA asking for an explanation why a target date to release a proposal was moved from April to July to September.
Why it matters: “Black women and women of other ethnicities have used chemical hair-straightening treatments for decades, and many of the relaxers, creams, and keratin treatments contain formaldehyde — a chemical used in pesticides and to preserve dead bodies. A 2022 study from the National Institutes of Health found people who used hair straighteners had an increased risk of developing uterine cancer. A 2023 study from Boston University found that postmenopausal women who used relaxers most often had a greater than 50% increased risk of uterine cancer compared to those who seldom used them.”
Source: AP via MedPage Today
PREGNANCY AND POSTPARTUM
Death By Lack of OBGYN in Indiana
What: Taysha Wilkinson-Sobieski died at 26 years old of a ruptured ectopic pregnancy, when a fertilized egg grew outside her uterus. The hospital she first went to in Indiana, Parkview DeKalb, had closed its labor and delivery unit a few weeks earlier, and Taysha was transferred to a larger hospital. But it was too late to save her. She died two days later.
Why it matters: “Accessing obstetrics care has become even more challenging in Indiana. In 2021, the Indiana Department of Health identified 37 Indiana counties that had no inpatient delivery services. That’s an increase from the 33 counties that lacked such services in 2018. …Maternal care advocates are worried that the shortage of gynecologists and obstetricians may get worse. Early data shows that the state is seeing fewer applications for its OBGYN medical residency training programs after the state passed its abortion ban, a pattern repeated across the country, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.”
Source: IndyStar
MENSTRUATION
Finally Learning from Menstrual Blood
What: The New Yorker’s Rachel Gross has a deep dive into menstrual blood and the companies working to *finally* make diagnostic use of it, after being ignored for most of modern medical history.
Why it matters: The piece is an excellent round-up of not only where different companies like Qvin and NextGen Jane are in the research and development process, it also succinctly captures the absurdity of how far behind we are on so many issues of women’s health: “In recent years, endometriosis has become a kind of poster disease for how medicine has gaslit women, prioritizing their ability to reproduce over their pain. Doctors have long punted its symptoms into the realm of the psychological; in the past, antidepressants were common frontline medications, and even now many patients are first sent to therapists. Even well into the nineteen-nineties, endometriosis was called ‘the career woman’s disease,’ and a common ‘cure’ was held to be pregnancy, which temporarily arrests menstruation and changes hormone levels in the body. Women today still report being advised by their doctors to ‘just get pregnant.’”
Source: New Yorker
There’s Finally a Map of the Uterus During Menstruation
What: It’s 2024, but scientists at Oxford University just mapped the lining of the uterus throughout menstrual cycles for the first time. They say it is “the widest range of menstrual cycle phases ever mapped” and that the “atlas reveals new insights into endometrium functioning…it could help study, understand, and possibly treat conditions such as endometriosis in the future.”
Why it matters: “Having an in-depth map of the endometrium allows researchers to gain insight into unique cells and interactions not found elsewhere in the body, and better understand tissue changes during the menstrual cycle, including the endometrium’s ability to regenerate without scarring. The endometrium is crucial for human reproduction, supporting pregnancy if a fertilised egg is implanted. If no implantation occurs, it sheds and rebuilds itself each month without scars. This ever-changing tissue goes through complex and dynamic changes across the menstrual cycle, making it extremely hard-to-study.”
Source: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
ABORTION ACCESS
Trump Has a Big, Confusing Night on Abortion and IVF
What: Donald Trump was all over the place on abortion rights and IVF tonight, claiming he might vote in favor Florida’s amendment to allow abortion access, and then swiftly walking that statement back via his campaign. He also claimed that he would make IVF free, but then waffled on whether the government would pay for it or insurance companies.
Why it matters: This is becoming routine for Trump during this campaign. He has said he is proud of being the president who overturned Roe vs. Wade, but he also knows outright banning abortion and restricting IVF access deeply unpopular with most voters. But while he tried to have things both ways, its clear Project 2025 leaders who previously worked for Trump will continue restricting abortion access, and every Republican senator except Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins recently voted against protecting IVF access.
Source: NBC, Twitter (linked above)
|