Hear are the top things to know in women’s health and wellness so far this week:
After reviewing records for over 650,000 women in the United States over eight years, researchers found just over 7% got cervical cancer screenings on the recommended timeline, versus 60% who got them too often and 30% who got them too rarely.
The mother of the woman kept alive in Georgia as an incubator for her fetus at nine weeks pregnant despite being brain dead speaks extensively for the first time since her grandson’s pre-term birth. After six months, he still remains in intensive care.
Another study of nearly 3 million women in the US found an over 80% increase in risk of cardiovascular issues for women who have uterine fibroids versus those who don’t.
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EVERYTHING
What: A study of over 670,000 commercially-insured US women between 2013 and 2021 found that just over 7% received cervical cancer screening according to national guidelines. Over 60% were screened too often and over 30% too rarely. Interestingly, testing for cervical cancer and HIV at the same time led to both over screening and underscreening, and patterns differed slightly by race, income, and education. The authors say the low adherence likely stems from confusion over evolving guidelines and urge targeted interventions to fix it.
Key Line: “More evidence-based strategies are needed to expand capacity for guideline-adherent screening, reduce overscreening, and align payer and health system incentives, particularly as new modalities, such as HPV self-sampling, emerge.”
Source: JAMA Network Open
FERTILITY
What: USA Today looks at the work of Dr. Zaher Merhi, who uses platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections to try to “reawaken” dormant ovarian follicles, a still‑experimental technique. The hypothesis is that when injected into aging ovaries, the PRP could bring follicles back to life and improve egg quality. The results are still early but have some promising data.
Key Line: “He has observed that the procedure works best in women in their early to mid-40s, though he stresses that ‘nothing works on everyone.’ ‘Patients deserve honesty,’ Merhi has said. ‘PRP is not a guarantee. It’s an option. And for some, an option is everything.’”
Source: USA Today
ABORTION ACCESS
What: The mother of Adriana Smith, the nine-weeks-pregnant Georgia woman who was declared brain dead in February but kept on life support for 16 weeks because doctors said state abortion laws treated the fetus as the patient, spoke in depth for the first time to ABC News. April Newkirk said she had ‘no choice’ as the hospital cited Georgia’s post-Roe abortion law. Smith’s baby was delivered prematurely at 26 weeks and has been in intensive care for the past six months.
Key Line: "‘Me and her dad, we talked about it, we were like, 'We really don't have a choice. They're going to do what they want to do.' So I was just like, 'Well, maybe she'll come back to us. Maybe she'll find her way back to us,’ Newkirk said. ‘I never felt like hope was gone with God, but I did see her changing. I saw her skin changing, her body changing,’ she added.”
Source: ABC News
What: Meta has taken down or restricted more than 50 accounts worldwide belonging to abortion providers, reproductive health groups, and queer organisations, prompting organizers to call it one of the biggest censorship events in years. The restrictions hit groups across Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, even in countries where abortion is legal. Meta denies targeting any cause or community, though affected groups report inconsistent enforcement, slow appeals, and bans reinstated only after public backlash.
Key Line: “Campaigners say the actions indicate that Meta is taking its Trump-era approach to women’s health and LGBTQ+ issues global. Earlier this year, it appeared to ‘shadow-ban’ or remove the accounts of organisations on Instagram or Facebook helping Americans to find abortion pills. Shadow-banning is when a social media platform severely restricts the visibility of a user’s content without telling the user. In this latest purge, it blocked abortion hotlines in countries where abortion is legal...”
Source: The Guardian
CARDIOVASCULAR
What: A study looking back ten years at nearly 3 million women in the US found those diagnosed with uterine fibroids had an 81% higher risk of heart disease compared to those without the condition. The increased risk held across races and ages and was most striking in women under 40, whose risk was about 3.5 times higher. Researchers stressed the need for more studies to confirm this link and suggested women with fibroids may benefit from closer heart health monitoring.
Key Line: “‘Some studies have shown that fibroids and cardiovascular disease share biological pathways, including the growth of smooth muscle cells, the excessive buildup of fibrous connective tissue, calcification and inflammatory responses.’ DiTosto noted that those findings have been hindered by limitations including small study sample sizes that lacked diversity and insufficient study design. ‘We set out to address these critical gaps using a large, diverse dataset with extended follow-up,’ she said. ‘Our findings suggest that fibroids may serve as an important marker for identifying women at elevated cardiovascular risk, with sustained increased risk persisting up to 10 years after diagnosis.’”
Source: American Heart Association