Why are women more prone to long Covid?

While men over 50 tend to suffer the most acute symptoms of coronavirus, women who get long Covid outnumber men by as much as four to one

In June 2020, as the first reports of long Covid began to filter through the medical community, doctors attempting to grapple with this mysterious malaise began to notice an unusual trend. While acute cases of Covid-19 – particularly those hospitalised with the disease – tended to be mostly male and over 50, long Covid sufferers were, by contrast, both relatively young and overwhelmingly female.

Early reports of long Covid at a Paris hospital between May and July 2020 suggested that the average age was around 40, and women afflicted by the longer-term effects of Covid-19 outnumbered men by four to one.

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The big squeeze: welcome to the pelvic floor revolution

There are books, podcasts, apps and devices devoted to it. But what’s behind this new obsession with a strong pelvic floor?

If you want to know about the wonders of a healthy pelvic floor, you could do worse than look to Coco Berlin, who styles herself “Germany’s most famous belly dancer”. Berlin started belly dancing in 2002, but it wasn’t until a few years later, when she went to Egypt to study dancers there, that she wondered why they were so much better. She concluded they were seriously in touch with their pelvic floor, the internal muscular structure that supports the internal organs and prevents incontinence, among other important functions.

“When I connected to my pelvic floor, for the first time in my life, I had this feeling of embodiment,” Berlin says. It improved her dancing – before, she says, it had felt “like mimicry” – but also affected the rest of her life. She felt more confident, “I had the feeling that I own my body”. Her enjoyment of sex was greatly improved, and she felt stronger and less stressed. She thinks it is a prime reason why people assume she is much younger than she is (she’s 42 and, speaking over Zoom from her home in Germany, she looks like a woman in her 20s).

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I thought my eating disorder was my protector, but I have been anorexia’s prey | Melis Layik

With university online and no job to go to thanks to Covid, it has become easier to spend hours in front of the mirror berating my appearance

Name: Melis Layik

Age: 21

I increased my dosage of antidepressants today. With the loosening of Victoria’s Covid restrictions and the surge of New Year’s weight loss marketing, my eating disorder has once again overwhelmed me with feelings of inadequacy and self-loathing.

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Women rally to save Pakistan’s taboo-busting ‘Oprah show’

Crowdfunder allows Kanwal Ahmed to keep sharing advice on sex, violence… and cooking

A social media star has been dubbed Pakistan’s Kickstarter Oprah after her groundbreaking digital talk show in which women talk about taboo issues such as marital rape, cyberbullying and femicide was saved by fans.

Filming started this week on the new series of Conversations With Kanwal, in which presenter Kanwal Ahmed, 31, sheds light on issues that are rarely talked about within families, let alone in the public arena, after fans raised more than five million rupees (around £23,000) in less than a week using the online crowdfunding platform.

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‘Women feel they have no option but to give birth alone’: the rise of freebirthing

As Covid infections rose, hospital felt like an increasingly dangerous place to have a baby. But is labouring without midwives or doctors the answer?

On the morning of 3 May, Victoria Johnson prepared to give birth at her home in the Highlands. One by one, her three children came downstairs to where she was labouring in a birthing pool surrounded by fairy lights, the curtains tightly shut against the outside world.

Suddenly, she felt an urge to get out of the pool. “I stood up and it felt as if the weight of the universe crashed from my head to my toes.” Her waters broke – “all over the carpet, which wasn’t ideal” – and the baby started to crown. “Everyone was there, including both grandmothers on video call,” she says. “Once the baby was out, my eight-year-old son came over and said, ‘I’m so proud of you.’ And that was everything.”

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Panelists: Hubbell a – game changer’ for women’s health

Erin Davison-Rippey of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, at left, Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of Planned Parenthood's political action committee, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Fred Hubbell, and Jill June, former leader of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, participate in a roundtable discussion of women's health-care issues ... (more)

Wolf says he’ll veto GOP’s primary season ‘heartbeat’ abortion ban bill

Gov. Tom Wolf said Wednesday that he'll veto a House Republican's primary season attempt to chip away at abortion rights, calling it a "dangerous and unconscionable attack on women's healthcare." The legislation sponsored by Rep. Rick Saccone, of Allegheny County, would ban abortion at as early as six weeks, which is before most women even know they're pregnant.

Overnight Health Care: House Dems sound alarm over HHS pick | Trump…

Robert Francis O'Rourke Seven Texas lawmakers leaving Congress means a younger, more diverse delegation Periscope shines during House blackout Lawmakers form Term Limits Caucus MORE Lloyd Alton Doggett Pelosi denounces GOP tax reform as 'armageddon' Live coverage: Day three of the Ways and Means GOP tax bill markup Live coverage: Day two of the Ways and Means GOP tax bill markup MORE , the Democrats also said Alex Azar should be pressed on his commitment to uphold the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as ObamaCare. This won't be the first time in the hot seat for Azar, who faced the Senate Health Committee last month in what was billed as a courtesy hearing.

Planned Parenthood: Arkansas faces having 1 abortion clinic

A Planned Parenthood subsidiary told the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday that Arkansas' restrictions on how abortion pills are administered could effectively end medication abortions in the state and leave Arkansas with only one clinic where women can end their pregnancies. Under an Arkansas law passed in 2015, doctors who provide abortion pills must hold a contract with another physician who has admitting privileges at a hospital and who would agree to handle complications.

Justice Department Launches Investigation Into Planned Parenthood Over Sale of Fetal Tissue

In a letter first obtained by Fox News, Justice Department Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs Stephen Boyd formally requested unredacted documents from the Senate Judiciary Committee, the same panel that led the congressional probe into the women's health organization. "The Department of Justice appreciates the offer of assistance in obtaining these materials, and would like to request the Committee provide unredacted copies of records contained in the report, in order to further the Department's ability to conduct a thorough and comprehensive assessment of that report based on the full range of information available," Boyd wrote.

Abortion procedure ban struck down

A federal district judge handed a victory to abortion rights groups Wednesday when he struck down part of a Texas law curbing access to the most common second-trimester abortion procedure, called dilation and evacuation. In a decision that will be appealed before the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Lee Yeakel said the provision imposes an "undue burden" on women seeking second-trimester abortions in the state.

US judge strikes down Texas measure to limit second-trimester abortions

A US district judge on Wednesday struck down parts of a Texas law that would ban the most common type of second-trimester abortions in the state, after plaintiffs argued the procedure was safe, legal and necessary for women's health. US District Judge Lee Yeakel in Austin issued a permanent injunction against the provisions that were in legislation known as Senate Bill 8 and set to take effect this year, saying they "are facially unconstitutional."

Lawsuit targets Trump’s rollback of birth-control rule

Two national advocacy groups filed a federal lawsuit in Indiana on Tuesday challenging a rule change by President Donald Trump's administration allowing more employers to opt out of no-cost birth control for workers. The suit was filed on behalf of five women at risk of being denied birth control coverage, including three University of Notre Dame students.

Federal judge strikes down two abortion restrictions in Alabama

A U.S. judge on Thursday struck down two abortion restrictions in Alabama that limited how close clinics can be to public schools and banned a procedure used to terminate pregnancies in the second trimester. The decision is a blow to abortion opponents in Alabama, who have joined conservatives in other states in enacting new laws that critics said were chipping away at the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v.