Physicians usually require an annual pelvic exam before prescribing oral birth control to women, but the two practices have no medical reason to be linked. Indeed, according to a consortium of health-care providers and …
Women’s Health
Study: Multiple Miscarriages May Raise the Risk of Heart Attack
Women who experience more than one pregnancy loss — including miscarriage and stillbirth — are at greater risk for heart attack later in life, according to a study of more than 11,000 European women.
10-Year-Old in Spain Is Not the First or Youngest Child Mom
A 10-year-old girl gave birth last week in a Spanish hospital, as TIME’s NewsFeed posted earlier today. The new mother’s young age may be shocking, but she isn’t the youngest mother on record by far.
Study: More Evidence for the Harms of Hormone Replacement Therapy
In follow-up studies of the women involved in the large federally funded Women’s Health Initiative, researchers found that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) used after menopause not only increased the risk of breast cancer in …
Is Birth Control Preventive Medicine?
That’s the question federal officials will by answering in the next year as they continue writing regulations to implement the Affordable Care Act.
Who’s Too Posh to Push? High Cesarean Section Rates Aren’t Moms’ Fault
The number of women opting to deliver by caesarean section in the U.K. has doubled since 1980, a phenomenon that has been popularly attributed to women being “too posh to push.”
Do We Need Vitamin-Supplemented Birth Control Pills?
Bayer HealthCare, the manufacturer of Yaz birth control pills, won government approval for Beyaz, a new oral contraceptive that is essentially identical to Yaz but is designed to boost levels of folic acid in users.
The Complicated Link Between Abortion and Mental Health
After, say, arcane changes in the tax code, abortion is the least fun topic of public conversation in America today. The opposing sides of the reproductive-rights debate are like estranged in-laws after a few too many drinks at …
A Test to Predict High Blood Pressure in Pregnancy Is on the Horizon
Preeclampsia is one of those terms you probably wouldn’t hear until your pregnancy test turns up positive. Then, regular prenatal urine and blood pressure screenings alert you to the condition, if they detect something awry.
Stress Leads to Worse PMS Symptoms, Study Finds
Women who say they feel stressed early in their menstrual cycle are more likely to report the cramping, bloating and mood swings of PMS — premenstrual syndrome — later in the month, a new study shows.
Researchers from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, along with researchers from …
Alcohol may increase risk for certain types of breast cancer
Alcohol is a known risk factor for breast cancer, but it may not be equally risky for all subtypes of the disease. In particular, according a new study released today by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, alcohol appears more important for “hormone-sensitive” breast cancers — with drinkers showing more pronounced risk of …
Menstrual pain can re-shape the brain
It’s a common gag that women don’t think quite the same they get their period. But according to neuroscientists in Taiwan, in some women menstruation may change the very structure of the brain.
In an MRI study of 32 women who suffer menstrual cramps and 32 similar women without pain — with members of the two groups matched on age and …
FDA panel: Avastin ineffective against breast cancer
In light of clinical trials suggesting no benefit from the medication among breast cancer patients, U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted yesterday in favor of withdrawing approval of the cancer drug Avastin (bevacizumab) for treatment of breast cancer. Avastin, which is manufactured by Roche, was originally granted
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