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EVERYTHING
How Trump's Health Care Funding Destruction Will Hurt Women
What: The National Women's Law Center breaks down all the grim stats related to the Trump administration slashing Medicaid and Planned Parenthood funding. The Medicaid cuts are expected to kick off 10 million people from Medicaid, and new policies like work-requirement or cost-sharing "will be most harmful to women."
Key Line: "In other words, OBBBA will take away essential insurance coverage from women who are barely making ends meet while at the same time raising prices for those who retain coverage, and close providers who could have served those in need. The results are ruinous for women’s access to care, including contraception, pregnancy-related care and newborn care, and preventive and primary care, and for women’s financial stability."
Source: National Women's Law Center
A Clue to Why Immune Responses Differ Between Men and Women
What: A study found a single gene known as "Malat1" could play a crucial role in regulating immune responses in female T cells, but not in male T cells. When the gene was absent in female mice, it led to improperly developed immune responses during lung inflammation. And that could shed light on why men and women may respond differently to infections, allergens, or immune therapies.
Key Line: "Professor Dimitris Lagos, from the University of York and Hull York Medical School, said: 'Malat1 appears to be part of the bigger picture of what makes female T cells different. It is a gene that produces an RNA but not a protein. It is fascinating that even though it is present in both female and male T cells, it seems to be working differently in female cells.'
Source: University of York
FERTILITY
What Men Eat Matters for Fertility, Too
What: A study found consuming "ultra-processed" foods could lower male sex hormones and lead to weight gain, possibly impacting fertility. In other words, its not just what women eat that matters when it comes to fertility. The experiment was small but broke men into two groups. One got a normal amount of calories via ultra-processed food and then whole foods (after a break period), the other got a "high calorie" version of the ultra-processed food and then whole foods.
Key Line: "When men ate the high-calorie, ultra-processed diet, they had lower levels of follicle-stimulating hormone, or FSH, a hormone produced in the brain that plays a critical role in male fertility. FSH stimulates sperm production and helps to regulate testicular function. ...The researchers found trends toward lower testosterone levels when men ate the normal-calorie, ultra-processed diet and a reduction in sperm motility when they ate the high-calorie, ultra-processed diet."
Source: Washington Post
CARDIOVASCULAR
Meditation Cutting Diabetes Risk?
What: A randomized control trial evaluating over 200 Black women at high risk for heart disease at the Morehouse School of Medicine and Howard University found the group that spent a year practicing "transcendental meditation" had better blood sugar control, insulin sensitivity, cholesterol levels, and weight loss compared to the group that got health education.
Key Line: "Senior investigator Dr. Robert Schneider, director of the Institute for Prevention Research at MIU, emphasized the broader significance: 'We are witnessing a national health crisis. Meditation is not a replacement for medical care, but it addresses the stress and metabolic drivers at the root of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. It deserves a place alongside other prevention strategies.'"
Source: Maharishi International University
ONCOLOGY
Risk of Second Cancer After Early Breast Cancer is Low
What: A study in the BMJ found that women with early breast cancer have a low risk of developing a second primary cancer after treatment, at only around 2-3% higher than the general population. Factors such as age at diagnosis and type of treatments received can influence this risk. Despite increased risk, the absolute excess risks compared to the general population are small.
Key Line: "For example, for a woman whose first breast cancer was diagnosed when aged 60, her estimated risks of developing a new cancer by the age of 80 are 17% for non-breast cancer and 5% for contralateral breast cancer compared to risks of 15% and 3% respectively for women of the same age in the general population. For a woman diagnosed when aged 40, her estimated risks of developing a second cancer by the age of 60 are 6% for both non-breast and contralateral breast cancer compared to 4% and 2% respectively for women in the general population."
Source: BMJ
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