Royal College of Psychiatrists says impact on mental health often overlooked and calls for improvements in care
Nearly three-quarters of UK women do not know menopause can trigger a new mental illness, polling shows.
This lack of understanding is so acute that the Royal College of Psychiatrists has launched its first targeted “position statement” to raise awareness about menopause and mental health.
Continue reading...Women from countries with near-total bans on terminations will be given help to access services elsewhere
EU states will be able to tap into a social fund to help citizens access safe abortions, in an announcement hailed as a “victory for women”.
The roots of Thursday’s announcement go back to a long campaign for the European Commission to create a funding mechanism that would allow women from countries with near-total bans on abortion, such as Malta and Poland, to go where it is legal.
Continue reading...Presenter says she is ‘in a much more positive place’ after having lumpectomy and catching cancer early
Davina McCall has revealed she has undergone surgery for breast cancer and urged others to “get checked”.
In a video posted to Instagram, the presenter said she was “very angry” when she found out about the cancer, but felt in a “much more positive place” after a lumpectomy.
Continue reading...Patients who had more cells had better outcomes, particularly for aggressive types such as triple-negative breast cancer
In the 18th century, physicians noticed nuns had some of the highest rates of breast cancer. It was one of the earliest clues that led scientists to suspect that child-bearing and breastfeeding could protect against the disease.
Modern data has confirmed the centuries-old observation but the biological reasons behind it have remained unclear. Explanations have often focused on pregnancy-related hormonal changes, but research published Tuesday in Nature has found breastfeeding provides long-lasting immune protection.
Continue reading...Caesareans drive rise in assisted deliveries as experts warn of complex pregnancies linked to age, obesity and other conditions
More than half of women having a baby in Britain now do so with the help of medical intervention, an audit of NHS maternity care has revealed.
Of the 592,594 births that took place in 2023, 50.6% involved either a caesarean section or the use of instruments such as forceps or a ventouse suction cup.
Continue reading...Expert says self-testing kits are clinically useless and can be a distraction from evidence-based treatment
Expensive, over-the-counter hormone tests for menopause are clinically useless and risk undermining women’s healthcare, senior doctors have warned.
The testing kits, offered by private clinics and available to buy for self-testing, claim to offer tailored insights through measuring hormone levels. But they have been described by experts as misleading and medically unnecessary.
Continue reading...Groundbreaking footage shows ‘surprisingly invasive’ process and may help to improve infertility treatments
A human embryo being implanted into a uterus has been pictured in real time and in 3D footage for the first time by a team of scientists.
It shows images of an embryo implanting into a synthetic uterus, demonstrating how the process occurs naturally.
Continue reading...Stigma around mifepristone is stopping studies, experts in reproductive health claim in Lancet opinion piece
A drug used in medical abortions could help prevent women at high risk of breast cancer from developing the disease, according to an international group of doctors and scientists.
However, “stigma” around mifepristone is stopping pharmaceutical companies from investigating its potential as a new treatment doctors could offer to reduce the risk of breast cancer, they say.
Continue reading...Incineration of $9.7m of contraceptives to lead to 174,000 unintended pregnancies and 56,000 unsafe abortions, IPPF says
A decision by the US government to incinerate more than $9.7m (£7.3m) of contraceptives is projected to result in 174,000 unintended pregnancies and 56,000 unsafe abortions in five African countries.
More than three-quarters of the contraceptives (77%) were destined for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Mali, according to the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), an NGO global healthcare provider and advocate of sexual and reproductive rights.
Continue reading...Major causes of death contributing to inequality are lung cancer, respiratory illness and heart disease, ANU researchers say
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Australia has made progress in reducing socioeconomic inequalities in life expectancy but men living in disadvantaged areas are still dying almost seven years earlier, a new report from the Australian National University has found.
The study’s lead author and ANU demographer, Sergey Timonin, said the gaps in life expectancy between the most advantaged and disadvantaged areas stopped widening just before the Covid pandemic began and did not significantly worsen during the lockdown years.
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Continue reading...Chronic exposure to inflammation may explain link to conditions including depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder, researchers say
Living with an autoimmune disease may almost double the risk of mental health conditions including depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder, a study suggests.
The link may be explained by the chronic exposure to systemic inflammation that the autoimmune disease causes, researchers at the University of Edinburgh said.
Continue reading...Patient’s own embryo instead of partner’s was ‘incorrectly transferred’, fertility company tells ASX, months after revealing separate Queensland clinic error
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A second bungled embryo implant at Monash IVF has sparked a new investigation and the expansion of a review into the first incident, which led to a woman unknowingly giving birth to a stranger’s baby.
Monash IVF said in a statement on Tuesday that in June “a patient’s own embryo was incorrectly transferred to that patient, contrary to the treatment plan which designated the transfer of an embryo of the patient’s partner”.
Continue reading...Sadiq Khan seeking ‘urgent review’ of decision to ban adverts from British Pregnancy Advisory Service
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has stepped in to reverse a ban on adverts on the London transport network calling for abortion to be decriminalised.
It is understood that the mayor is seeking an “urgent review” of a Transport for London (TfL) decision to ban the adverts from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (Bpas) charity on the grounds they may bring the Metropolitan police into disrepute.
Continue reading...Exclusive: A majority of females currently want to avoid pregnancy but survey reveals very few use most effective birth control method
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Most Australian women don’t know that intrauterine devices (IUDs) are the most effective form of contraception.
Experts say this nationwide “failure in public education” has contributed to low uptake and caused Australia to lag behind other western countries.
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Continue reading...Linzagolix hailed as a possible ‘gamechanger’ in tackling the painful condition for some patients in England
More than 1,000 women a year in England could benefit from a new pill for endometriosis.
The condition occurs when tissue similar to the womb lining grows elsewhere in the body, such as the pelvis, bladder and bowel. It can cause chronic pain, heavy periods, extreme tiredness and fertility problems.
Continue reading...Surgical menopause occurs on average 19 months earlier, while natural menopause happens five months earlier, new global research shows
Women with endometriosis face a higher risk of premature and early menopause and are seven times more likely to experience surgical menopause, a study has found.
Surgical menopause occurs when a woman has both ovaries removed before reaching natural menopause, and may be done to treat endometriosis if other treatments fail.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Racial disparities highlighted as researchers estimate 10 million women have conditions such as fibroids or endometriosis
More than a quarter of women in England are living with a serious reproductive health issue, according to the largest survey of its kind, and experts say “systemic, operational, structural and cultural issues” prevent women from accessing care.
The survey of 60,000 women across England in 2023, funded by the Department of Health and Social Care and analysed by academics at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, found that 28% of respondents were living with a reproductive morbidity, such as pelvic organ prolapse, uterine fibroids, endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome, or cervical, uterine, ovarian or breast cancer.
Continue reading...Livia Tossici-Bolt given conditional discharge and ordered to pay £20,000 costs in case that drew US state department concern
An activist whose case had been cited by the US state department over “freedom of expression” concerns in the UK has been convicted of breaching a buffer zone outside an abortion clinic.
Livia Tossici-Bolt, an anti-abortion campaigner, went on trial at Poole magistrates court last month accused of breaching a public spaces protection order on two days in March 2023 near to a clinic in Bournemouth. On Friday she was found guilty of two charges of breaching the order.
Continue reading...New contraceptives, IVF and endometriosis treatments added to federal subsidy scheme, with Coalition leaders backing the move
New medications related to contraception, endometriosis and IVF will be subsidised on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) from 1 May, with some women expected to save thousands of dollars each year.
The announcement from the federal government on Sunday was welcomed by health campaigners, who said women’s health issues have been sidelined for far too long.
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Continue reading...Stigma, lack of treatment and disproportionate rise of the disease in women draws comparisons with HIV epidemic
An alarming rise in obesity in Africa has been compared with the HIV epidemic, with stigma and lack of treatment having a disproportionate impact on women.
Almost half of women in Africa will be obese or overweight by the end of the decade, according to a recent study by the World Obesity Federation.
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