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BIRTH CONTROL
‘Post-Birth Control Syndrome’ Getting Media Attention
What: Cosmopolitan in the UK has a longer piece on “post-birth control syndrome”, a concept that is not officially recognized as a medical condition. Regardless, the headline says it “is real” and talks to several women who describe the challenges they faced when coming off hormonal birth control.
Key line: “Obviously, we’d all be better off with more information up front, and this is especially true for those whose PBCS goes deeper than a list of short-term symptoms. Taking synthetic hormones for an extended period of time, starting at an early age, ‘can mask chronic hormone-related conditions,’ explains reproductive endocrinologist Jaime Knopman, MD.”
Source: Cosmopolitan UK
PREGNANCY + POSTPARTUM
Survey: Most Americans Don’t Know About Pregnancy Heart Risks
What: A survey from Ohio State found most Americans aren’t aware that pregnancy, especially those that have complications, carry a long-term risk of heart disease.
Key line: “During pregnancy there are a lot of different hormone shifts that happen to accommodate growth of the baby and health of the mom. The result is that the mom’s heart rate increases along with the amount of fluid in the body. This can put stress on the heart as does the physical strain of labor and delivery,” said Lauren Hassen, MD, a cardiologist and assistant professor in the Ohio State University College of Medicine’s Division of Cardiovascular Medicine. “There are conditions that develop during pregnancy that we call adverse pregnancy outcomes like gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes and pre-term delivery. All of these conditions increase the long-term risk for heart disease,” Hassen said.
Source: Ohio State University
ABORTION ACCESS
The Women Avoiding Children in Abortion Ban States, As Republicans Complain About Fertility Rates
What: States Newsroom talks to women throughout the country who wanted to have second or third child but are holding off because of abortion bans in their state and their fears that they won’t be able to get adequate care if they need it.
Key line: “During the same time frame, rates have fallen steeply in states with abortion bans, including Idaho, where the rate dropped from 71.8 to 57.5, and Arizona, which fell from 66.3 to 54.1. Those falls in fertility have been top of mind for elected politicians tied to President Donald Trump’s second-term administration. It is a central piece of Project 2025, the blueprint for Trump’s presidency as written by the conservative Heritage Foundation and several anti-abortion organizations. In a memo issued on Jan. 29 by new U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, programs supported or assisted by transportation funds have been directed to give preference to communities with marriage and birth rates higher than the national average
Source: Tennessee Lookout
South Carolina Doctors Challenge ‘Conscience Rights’, But to Actually Treat Women
What: A group of South Carolina doctors are challenging antiabortion laws in their state using doctors’ religious and conscience rights—flipping a legal premise that is usually used to refuse care.
Key line: “At a conference of OB-GYNs about 18 months ago, Bingham said she and other physicians began discussing their legal options. ‘If there is a right to refuse care, there certainly seems to be the corollary where we have a right to provide care, particularly based on our conscience, and then the tenants of each of our own religions, and based on years of training and dedication,’ Bingham said, noting that South Carolina has a conscience law that allows health providers to refuse care.”
Source: States Newsroom
ENDOMETRIOSIS
Study Finds Ties Between Endometriosis and PTSD
What: A study in JAMA Psychiatry looking at over 30,000 women with endometriosis found PTSD is associated with the condition. Researchers said the association suggests trauma could “contribute to the disease through independent pathogenetic processes.”
Key line: “‘Mental health appears to play an important role in the systemic nature of endometriosis. Our efforts to dissect the impact of traumatic events uncovered insights that open new directions in understanding how psychiatric risk factors can lead to negative clinical outcomes in women’ commented Renato Polimanti, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and senior author of the study.”
Source: Yale University
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