Here are the details on the top women’s health news so far this week: Before it hits your feed — expect to see plenty of talk about how menopause might reduce your brain size. (Does it matter? More research needed.) Plus, how Medicaid cuts affect more than just pregnant women, and more below.
POSTMENOPAUSAL? LESS GRAY MATTER // A U.K. brain‑scan study found postmenopausal women had less gray matter in the memory and emotion areas of their brains. On top of that, hormone replacement therapy didn’t reverse that, as the scientists who conducted the study hypothesized. Why does this matter? It hints at how menopause might shape brain aging and mental health.
MEDICAID = FEWER BREAST CANCER DEATHS // The massive Trump Medicaid cuts coming this year won’t just affect postpartum women. A study in JAMA Network Open found fewer women ages 40-64 died of breast cancer in states with expanded Medicaid — especially those with cancer that had already spread.
BILLIONS IN RESEARCH STILL FROZEN // Nature has an excellent visualization of just how much scientific research was frozen or cut by the Trump administration in 2025. It doesn’t pull out women’s health specifically, but reports that about $1.4 billion in funding is still stuck in limbo, as legal challenges to the cuts work their way through courts.
BEAUTY INDUSTRY BOOMING // The Economist reports that despite global polling that shows people aren’t feeling great about the price of goods, the beauty industry is still thriving. Some reasons include increasingly younger customers and the explosion of non-surgical procedures like Botox.
TRIMESTER ZERO (INFO) // The newest wellness influencer trend has arrived: “trimester zero”, aka a pre-pregnancy regime of detoxes, liver snacks, and blue-light blockers pushed to help women conceive more easily. As usual the claims outweigh the evidence, but one doctor made the point that the typical advice to “just start trying” also isn’t giving women enough.