ICYMI news for women - Sept 28
No TL;DR. Just the facts, ma'am. Dozens of news articles in the last week alone that matter to women. Click your picks, ignore the bricks. We watch the news so you don't have to.
Sunday Snippets is a round-up of headlines about women’s health and lives from the past week that we haven’t covered in our regular posts. Snippets is a perk for our terrific paid subscribers, released two days later for all subscribers. It takes time — 10+ hours every week — to search for relevant news, add context and deeper dive links and get these news stories to you without ads or promotions. If you find this valuable, give us a shout-out with a❤️ or a share, or consider buying us a much needed espresso (or a snippet of wine?) or—definitely better yet—a paid subscription to support our work: we do it for you.
In the news this week for women: Surprise! (not) FDA to conduct review of Mifepristone. Cancer tips, microplastics in human bones (can we talk microplastics and autism?) Dems push for women’s health reform, retrieve cuts to Medicaid/ACA, and Kennedy impeachment. Butts or boobs? Depends on where you live. Four vaccines prevent brain atrophy, good news on Alzheimer’s. New treatments for hand eczema, that sudden urge to go, back pain, osteoporosis, a type of breast cancer. Shutdown looming—how will it affect women’s healthcare, home health? Advice for government employees, contractors. You know that normal BP? It may be high under new guidelines. Measles in SC; KY coal loyalty means nation’s worst loss of life years. Probiotics for women, tracker lies, ginger, chocolate, dairy myths, pistachio magic and ingredient awareness. Gen Z contraception info gaps, and Sit at the Bar September to beat dating apps. A huge number of studies on pregnancy with a complete review of the autism/Tylenol fiasco. Sexual health after 65. Best and worst states for COPD. AI coming to Medicare—and why women, BIPOC may lose. Kennedy and more bizarre turns at HHS. <sigh> Youth CTE, parents’ firearms and youth suicide. Women, Republicans not loving the economy. Everyone wants a wife (including me). Some really interesting deep dives and policy issues if you like the ‘why,’ not just the ‘what’, femtech news and much more. And ‘The Other News Quiz’: Test your real-world knowledge and ID today’s pic! (The correct answer from last week? The photo was of Supriya Ganesh, who plays Dr. Samira Mohan on the Emmy-winning The Pitt. Congrats to all who picked up on that!)
Tip: If you hit a paywall here or anywhere, copy the URL of the article into archive.ph.1
See our footnotes and italicized comments for context from our 30+ years in healthcare.
Articles marked with an asterisk (*) are from professional journals.
Disclaimer: Listing these headlines does not indicate a recommendation. With so many news items each week, we don’t take the time to review each. Use common sense and dig deeper into any issue that interests you. More on sources and bias.2
Our bodies
- News of interest
Kennedy’s FDA to conduct review of Mifepristone in effort “to properly protect” women. So good of them to ‘protect’ us. I suppose it’s too much to hope they’ll focus on ‘protecting’ men soon, too.
An oncologist on common cancer symptoms you should know about. (Gift article)
96 Democrats in Congress push for women’s health reform, research and equity.
Intimate wellness is women’s health: What every woman should know. Mild caution flag.3
FDA approves first topical treatment for chronic hand eczema.
This therapy for chronic back pain can be surprisingly effective.
- Trending
What to know about the pending federal government shutdown Sept 30.
Conservative leaders urge Trump to let healthcare tax credits expire.
What does a federal government shutdown mean to women’s health? A stealthy rollback in coverage.
California braces for a shutdown-caused health insurance meltdown.
Home health agencies on edge of telemedicine cliff as shutdown looms.
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Republicans must negotiate to prevent healthcare cost spikes, protect funding laws. (Opinion)
New blood pressure guidelines mean “high BP” is lower than ever.
Meanwhile, Measles in SC, West Nile encephalitis in TX and MA, KY nation’s worst loss of life years, extreme heat imperils health in NM, and new CA law protects reproductive freedom.
- Nutrition, exercise, sleep, and looking great
If you eat a meal in 20 minutes or less, it’s time to slow down. I was a labor & delivery nurse early in my career … if you took more than 10 min to eat, you didn’t—and here’s the plump me to prove it!)
The 5 best probiotics for women. (Comparison table)
I’m a (female) fitness trainer. Here’s why I stopped using fitness trackers.
Walmart pasta dish with deadly listeria, a massive shrimp recall, and now radioactive spices.
* Ingredient-aware personal care product choices linked to reduced chemical exposure. Concentrations of the metabolite of diethyl phthalate—which increases risk of obesity and diabetes—were significantly lower in Black women who selected fragrance-free products.
Note we often group some articles in generational/lifestyle categories for easier reading, but generations don’t have a ‘hard stop’—they overlap, so check topics. Also check the Femtech section, below, for more news that can apply to your generation and interests.
- Gen Z and Millennials
Adenomyosis: The pain was so agonizing I walked with a stick.
Rising misuse of OTC antihistamines puts teens at serious health risk.
Google and Flo Health pay $56M in period-tracking privacy settlement.
* Premenstrual disorders linked to reduced quality of life.
* The study: Premenstrual disorders and quality of life in Sweden.
* Long COVID linked to abnormal uterine bleeding and hormonal changes.
86 YO influencer to young women: Sit at the Bar September: Ditch the dating apps.4
- Pregnancy, birth and parenting
Even from the time we started Snippets last March, an increase in pregnancy-related research reports with less midlife+ research seems notable. While we’re hoping we’re proved wrong, it kind of looks like researchers—or more likely research publications—are responding to WH concerns about falling birth rates and “DEI” pushback on other research much needed to get parity with the vast amount of research done on men to date. If true, that’s great for childbearing populations but not so good for the other 70+ years of a woman’s life.
Trump’s claims on autism, Tylenol and vaccines not backed by science.
Research tying Tylenol to autism lost in court. Then it won Trump’s ear.
* FDA pushes label change for acetaminophen in pregnancy, approves leucovorin calcium for CFD.
The risk of fevers is worse: Why doctors are worried women will stop taking Tylenol.
FDA commissioner believes autism is an autoimmune disease. Which begs the question of whether anyone is looking at the proliferation of microplastics, increasingly associated with autoimmune diseases. And it turns out they are, and there is a plausible link with autism: here’s one of several studies.
American College of OB-Gyn: Tylenol is safe for pregnancy. Bad advice isn’t.
The long history of blaming mothers: Trump’s Tylenol waning echoes past misconceptions.
Left hand, right hand? Despite Tylenol claims, Trump administration funnels millions into credible autism research.
NIH launches new multimillion-dollar initiative to reduce stillbirths.
Childhood exposure to plastics raises lifetime health risks.
More women having babies in late 40s (but not nearly enough to raise birth rate.5
The longer you wait, the more likely you’ll need fertility assistance. Related: Why I don’t fear an IVF takeover: The risks (and costs) of genetic screening and IVF pregnancy still outweigh the benefits for most people.
* Maternal dietary diversity associated with decreased childhood eczema risk.
* Hyperemesis gravidarum: minimal impact on offspring school performance.
* Partial colostrum feed: higher incidence peanut, other allergies.
- Midlife and perimenopause
How I got in the best shape of my life during perimenopause.
How to end menopause stigma to talk honestly about symptoms and find effective treatment.
Black and Hispanic women may experience menopause symptoms earlier and longer.
- The untethered-to-my-uterus years
* Post-menopausal hip and spine bone strength: Romosozumab outperforms teriparatide and denosumab in bone strength. Translation: Evenity outperformed Forteo/Bonsity/Movymia in women at risk for fractures.
5 surprisingly hopeful things we learned about Alzheimer’s this year.
New study highlights overlooked sexual health concerns in 65+ women.
Could an OTC anti-inflammatory supplement prevent that unexpected urge to go?
Caution flag, but also research opportunity6
The 10 best and worst states for COPD. FWIW, 80% of the best states for COPD, and only 18% of the worst states, are blue states.
Related: * Respiratory health risks linked to chemical cleaners and biomass fuel in homes (in India, but findings apply everywhere).
AI will soon have say in approving or denying Medicare treatments. Read here and here to see why that could easily play against women and BIPOC.
News impacting our health and lives, and those we love and guide
- RFK Jr’s HHS and other Trump administration health news
Kennedy: US rejects global health goals that “promote abortion and radical gender ideology.”
CDC takes down more than a dozen webpages on sexual and gender identity, health equity.
12 ways Kennedy undercut vaccine confidence as health secretary.
American Enterprise Institute: Pharmaceutical tariffs will drive up insurance premiums, increase risk of shortages, elevate costs for US producers , and reduce the competitiveness of US exports of finished drugs. And that’s the conservative viewpoint.
Trump threatens 100% tariffs against drug makers who aren’t building US plants.
- More news
27 YO who shot 4 in Manhattan in July had CTE—as he suspected, likely from high school football.
Parents’ unlocked, loaded firearms common in youth suicides.
Poll: Women—particularly young women—disapprove of the economy and its author. Women make 80% +/- of all purchase decisions, from groceries to clothing to pharmacy items; it makes sense they’d see the hit first.
Special diabetes program yields $50B in federal healthcare savings.
After suicide attempt, doctors said their son was too unstable to function outside of a hospital. Insurance denied the treatment. The Catch 22 is perfect: Insurance denies mental health coverage, then after every shooting politicians say we’re not doing enough about mental health. For whom is this working?
Remember H5N1? It’s still infecting cows but with “minimal” risk in milk.
- Trending
ICE agent caught, removed after video reveals brutality to woman. And this was in full public view in the courthouse, for heaven’s sake. Pretty easy to guess what’s happening without audiences and videos. #NoMasks4ICE
She’s very much at home in the space between life and the afterlife.
Poll: Everyone wants a wife. Count me in.
Deeper dives | policy
NYT: The NIH needs reforming and the new director wants to save science. Will his naiveté about power mean he can easily become a mouthpiece for it? (Guest essay; gift article)
KFF: Deja vu: The future of abortion coverage in ACA marketplace plans. Back to the pre-ACA past.
* Poverty and social disadvantage linked to lower fecundability and greater risk of subfertility. Never mind opposing political goals and methods on the birth rate.7
Pew: Social media and news fact sheet. Demographics are notable on gender, age, education, and political affiliation. Keep in mind the projected new TikTok ownership—AKA policy steering: US conservatives, China and the UAE.
WHO: Contraceptive use: a catalyst for women’s health and socioeconomic empowerment. Or why WH plan to destroy $10M worth of contraceptives destined for poor countries isn’t helping anyone.
NewScientist: Simply listening to women’s experiences can avoid the agonizing wait for advances in women’s health care. What a novel idea!
Femtech and women’s health innovation
We’re way past time for innovation in women’s health, and Femtech is hoping to fill the gap. Don’t miss this free post with tips on investing in women’s health and see more about why investors are excited, but also why femtech can be the new Wild West. And see more about why we have a special section on femtech.8
World Economic Forum: Margins to momentum: How AI could transform women’s health.
Female investor aims to increase cervical cancer detection rates.
Cutting edge biomonitoring advances women’s health. Particularly given the constant changes in women’s bodies from multiple hormones, ongoing biomonitoring makes sense.
Hims & Hers Health stock is trending; what to know before betting on it.
The Other News Quiz
We focus on news stories that impact women’s health and lives. ‘Other stuff’ continues to happen at an insane rate. Are you a news groupie? Take our The Other News Quiz to see how well you stack up with other readers on a question with answers that relate to other news stories this week. Find the correct answer in next week’s Snippets.
Archive.ph is a web archiving service that captures and preserves snapshots of web pages. If it’s a lesser-known site or if the article is very popular, it could take a few minutes to load, but it generally works very well—including, BTW, forwarding posts to Canada or other countries wisely concerned about some of our US media.
Sources: We check both public and professional news sites, with click-throughs for sources. We tend to go straight to the original info more than the interpretation of popular magazines and blogs, as we’ve found the latter do not always correctly interpret medical science information. Medical editors are becoming rare. We give you the news directly, including the primary studies when available, and leave you to your interpretation.
Bias: We’ve been in women’s and children’s health for over three decades as providers, international consultants, and health system execs. If you’re in healthcare, with few exceptions, women’s and children’s services are not where you make money; those services are more often loss leaders. From policy to research to reimbursement for providers, women and children are second rate citizens, absolutely related to the historical perception of monetary value. So, you probably won’t be surprised to understand we do not lean politically right on women’s health. We are center left but fair: we do not misrepresent data, and we do scan information from neutral and both center-left and center-right sites. If you’re wondering about media bias, check it on AllSides. We do. Another cool website and app (thank you, Julie L!) is ground.news, which rates political bias in particular stories.
I’m never pleased with an article on women’s health starts out talking about two types of surgery, as this one does. Generally, surgery should be a last resort, not the lead in the article. After that, the interview looks solid. And it is in Forbes, after all—and surgery is higher profit for providers (physicians and hospitals) than non-surgical treatments.
I’ve traveled alone extensively in my life and I couldn’t agree more: bars invite easy conversation—a way to get to know others without any commitment. Gender research shows bars were designed for (and undoubtedly by) men; DM me if you want the data and—from a gender research perspective—how to make the most of it. Of course, don’t just go to any bar; think ahead of time and strategize: identify where you’ll be comfortable, where people like you hang. And, yes, there are great tricks as well if you’re feeling introverted or don’t like the guy who is talking to you. No commitment, but actual real people you can enjoy for a commitment-free evening or longer—your choice.
I had two in my forties. If you think it’s a great idea to wait that long, talk to me first. Pros: yes. Cons: oh, boy.
Exercise some buying judgment here. The research study is by respected institutions and MitoQ, a company selling this expensive, currently competitor-free product in multiple forms. MitoQ is a brand name for Mitoquinol or Mitoquinone, “a unique, patented form of CoQ10 that has been modified for targeted delivery.” From the company: How MitoQ and CoQ10 differ. There has also been research done at other universities on MitoQ. However, read the reviews and see this cautionary study. View this product as being in early stages of evaluation, dosage, etc. for inflammation generally, and for urinary urgency in particular.
And yet, in the midst of the WH push to have more babies, once again new policies shoot down that goal by taking millions off Medicaid (which currently pays for almost half of the country’s prenatal and birth care) and not renewing subsidies for the ACA, where millions more childbearing age women have health coverage. If you’re in women’s health, you’d be excused for a massive case of political cognitive dissonance.
We have a special section on femtech for three reasons: While not all femtech is created equal, outside investors—now finally often led now by women—are stepping up in a major way to fill the huge hole that traditional medical research is still neglecting and will worsen under Trump and Kennedy’s NIH that classifies women’s health research as DEI. Second, many of us have never invested specifically in women’s health but are in a position now to do so—if not us, then who? Finally, it’s a good eye-opener to those of us who have been dulled to the possibility of better after decades of often insensitive and boringly predictable care. Femtech views that neglect as opportunity.