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EVERYTHING
What the HHS Reorganization Means in Reality
What: KFF CEO (and former state and federal health official) Drew Altman offers his take on the massive reorganization of federal health agencies under Sec. Kennedy, including staffing cuts and changes in agency structure. He says reducing staff by 25% will have a "profound effect" on what the agencies can do.
Key Line: "Some of the changes are directed at consolidating Public Health Service agencies into a new Administration for a Healthy America...All these agencies relate to health, but it isn’t at all clear how their restructuring with a name change will reduce chronic diseases and their causes such as obesity and diabetes, without new initiatives and substantive redirection. These may still be to come, but changing an organization chart does not change health outcomes."
Source: KFF
PREGNANCY + POSTPARTUM
Diabetes in Pregnancy Linked to ADHD & Autism in Kids
What: A Lancet meta-analysis of 56 million pregnancies in over 200 studies found a link between diabetes and children experiencing ADHD, autism, and other cognitive problems. Researchers found a 28% higher risk of neuro-developmental issues in children born to mothers with either gestational diabetes or Type 2 diabetes.
Key Line: "'We know that high blood sugar levels during pregnancy can cause other neurological issues,' Dr. Céline Gounder, CBS News medical contributor and editor-at-large for public health at KFF Health News, said on 'CBS Mornings' Thursday. 'What's probably happening is a combination of the blood sugar levels themselves, but also how that triggers inflammation, other hormonal changes, how it turns certain genes on and off during fetal development.'"
Source: CBS
ABORTION ACCESS
Two-Thirds of US Teen Girls Face Abortion Limits
What: A study found about 66% of teenage girls in the US are living in states with strict abortion laws, including outright bans, gestational limits, or parental involvement requirements. All make it harder for them to access abortion services.
Key Line: "In total, the study included 10,666,913 girls ages 13 to 17 across the United States. Among them, 24% (2,519,258) live in states with full abortion bans, and another 24% (2,512,969) live in states with gestational limits on abortion. When states with parental involvement laws are included, the number of adolescents facing abortion-related restrictions increases significantly. Overall, 66% of US teenage girls (7,080,485 individuals) live in states with at least one type of abortion restriction—whether a ban, a gestational limit, or a parental involvement requirement."
Source: Contemporary Pediatrics
State Dems Try to Hold 'Crisis' Pregnancy Centers to Account
What: Anti-abortion "crisis" pregnancy centers have received millions in state and federal funding since Roe vs. Wade was overturned. Legislators from several states are pushing back with bills that aim to hold the centers accountable for providing accurate information and patient privacy protections.
Key Line: "For years, doctors, lawmakers, and reproductive rights groups have accused many of them of masquerading as abortion clinics to attract clients who may be considering the procedure and then dissuade them from going through with it. ...Unlike medical clinics that must comply with various state and federal levels of oversight, these centers are also vastly unregulated, even as more of them offer medical services like ultrasounds and STI testing. Add to this concerns about patient privacy protections, another aspect of the lack of regulation. Most centers do not need to comply with the health privacy law HIPAA because they are not regulated like medical clinics."
Source: Mother Jones
MENOPAUSE
Poise Wants to Test Urine for Menopause Markers
What: Bladder leak protection company Poise (aka maker of pads and diapers) introduced an initiative to extract dry urine from pads to test for indicators of perimenopause and menopause. They are targeting the work towards women in rural health deserts, where they say only 6% of OBGYNs in the country practice.
Key Line: "For perimenopausal and menopausal women in rural areas specifically, the lack of resources can make it more challenging to understand and manage the symptoms. One potential symptom of menopause is bladder leaks, a symptom many women feel ashamed to talk about, yet 25 million U.S. women experience this symptom in some form, but do not acknowledge the issue."
Source: Kimberly-Clark
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