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EVERYTHING
Teal Heath CEO: Why We Had Pap Smears for So Long
What: Healthcare Brew interviews Teal Health CEO Kara Egan about the company's recent FDA approval for a self-administered cervical cancer screening wand, which can replace the more invasive Pap smear procedure.
Key Line: "We’ve been testing for cervical cancer for decades. Why do you think no one has invented an at-home collection method sooner? Egan: I think the biggest reason was we never asked women if they wanted something better."
Source: Healthcare Brew
FERTILITY
Conservatives Clash Over IVF
What: Axios digs into the brewing conflict between anti-abortion activists and the Trump administration over in vitro fertilization (IVF). The White House is overdue to release a report with recommendations on improving IVF access--something anti-abortion groups do not support.
Key Line: "The answer, she said, appears to be a concept called "ethical IVF" that regulates how many embryos are created. ...Advocates for reproductive medicine technologies say they're increasingly seeing references to "ethical IVF" pop up in state legislatures — a term they say implies some forms of IVF are somehow unethical — and wonder whether the term may appear in recommendations from the White House."
Source: Axios
PREGNANCY + POSTPARTUM
New Findings Support Imaging for Postpartum Hemorrhage
What: Research from JAMA Network Open backs the use of "dynamic" CT imaging in women with treatment-resistant postpartum hemorrhage--a condition that can be fatal and is a major cause of maternal death. By identifying dye that has leaked out of the uterus using the scans, doctors can better pinpoint the source of the bleeding and manage the condition more effectively.
Key Line: “'At present, no globally standardized, reliable diagnostic method exists to identify PPH cases that fail to respond to conventional treatment,' Munekage Yamaguchi, MD, PhD, with the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Kumamoto University in Japan, and colleagues explained. 'In prior studies, we identified a subset of patients with severe PPH exhibiting contrast extravasation into the uterine cavity on early-phase dynamic computed tomography scans, many of whom required surgical interventions. To describe this condition, we introduced the term PRACE (postpartum hemorrhage, resistance to treatment, and arterial contrast extravasation).'"
Source: Health Imaging
ABORTION ACCESS
Missouri Supreme Court Allows ‘De Facto Abortion Ban’
What: Missouri voters in November approved an amendment allowing abortion access in the state. But yesterday, the Missouri Supreme Court ordered a judge to lift an injunction blocking abortion restrictions in the state, essentially creating a de facto abortion ban. Planned Parenthood had to cancel appointments that very day.
Key Line: "Tom Bastian, spokesman for the Missouri ACLU, painted Tuesday’s ruling as only a temporary setback. His organization believes its arguments for halting restrictions met the standard set by the Supreme Court and expects Zhang will grant another injunction 'blocking the ban and restrictions, once again allowing Missourians access to abortion care.'”
Source: Missouri Independent
MENOPAUSE
Women's Menstrual Cycle and Menopause Effects on Emotions
What: A study of 200 women found they experienced more irritability and anger right before they get their periods, and especially during the "early menopause transition phase", i.e. when ovaries start producing less estrogen.
Key Line: “'The findings of this study highlight what women have been telling us for years—that they experience anger and irritability and feel out of control just before their menstrual cycles and that this is more pronounced in the menopause transition. The results also speak to the need to better support women both physically and emotionally as they go through this universal life transition,' says Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director for The Menopause Society."
Source: Menopause Society
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