Tonight: Americans suddenly find birth control less acceptable, the FDA's progress against the abortion pill, what your iPhone now knows about menopause, and more.
— Meghan McCarthy
p.s. Please check out our new poll below! We will be asking some fun trivia questions in the future…email [email protected] if you’ve got a good one to share.
AMERICANS ARE COOLING ON BIRTH CONTROL
The share of Americans who say birth control is morally acceptable fell to 83%, a record low since Gallup started asking in 2012. Last year, approval was 90%. Independents drove the slide, with their acceptance down 11 points in a single year. Birth control has ranked as the single most morally acceptable behavior Gallup tracks every year it's been on the list, which is what makes the dip worth watching.
THE FDA REOPENS MIFEPRISTONE'S SAFETY QUESTION
The FDA launched the safety review of mifepristone they had promised for months, a drug that accounts for about two-thirds of U.S. abortions. Former FDA Commissioner Marty Makary had allegedly said the study would be delayed because it would be unpopular to release before the midterm elections. The agency still says the drug is safe and effective when used as directed, and HHS insists it has been reviewing the drug's safety rules for months, disputing that anything new just began. Preliminary results are expected in July; the full review likely won't land until after the November midterms.
YOUR PHONE MAY FLAG PERIMENOPAUSE?
At its developer conference Monday, Apple said the Health app will start alerting women 40 and older when their logged cycle patterns suggest perimenopause, then steer them toward symptom tracking and educational material to bring to a doctor. It's the company's deepest move into women's health since it launched period tracking in 2019.
A BREAST-CANCER SIGNAL IN THE WEIGHT-LOSS DRUGS
A study found that around 110,000 women ages 45 to 80 carrying extra weight were 30% less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer while taking GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. The study was observational, so it can't prove the drugs deserve the credit, and the team is now standing up a clinical trial to test the link directly. Obesity after menopause is a known breast cancer risk factor, but researchers suspect the drugs' effects on weight *and* inflammation may be doing the work.
BEING FEMALE MAY NOT BE THE AFIB STROKE RISK WE THOUGHT
For years, simply being a woman has counted as a stroke risk factor in atrial fibrillation, the most common heart-rhythm disorder. That earned female patients an automatic point towards being put on blood thinners. A Tulane analysis of roughly 950,000 patients found that may be too blunt: under age 75, women and men faced essentially the same one-year stroke risk, with the added risk showing up mainly in women 75 and older. Because blood thinners carry real bleeding risks, the authors argue the call should be individualized and point to a newer scoring system that drops sex as a standalone factor.