9 New Studies on Women's Health in Recognition of Women's Health Week 2023
In recognition of National Women's Health Week (May 14-20, 2023) Patient Care editors collected some of the most notable studies, FDA actions, and expert guidance updates from the second quarter of 2023, so far.
Topics include earlier screening for breast cancer, persistently higher post-MI adverse events in women vs men, migraine history and pregnancy complications, and more.
Find highlights of 9 top news items here and links for more information for all.
The new recommendation that all women should begin regular screening at age 40 years is in response to accumulating data that show an increase in the annual rate of breast cancer diagnoses among women younger than age 50 years and persistently high mortality rates among Black women in particular. The shift, says USPSTF, "could result in 19% more lives being saved." More, here.
Opill, a progestin-only oral contraceptive, if approved by the FDA, would be the first and only form of birth control in the US available without a physician's prescription. Accoriding to the manufacturer, nearly one-third of adult US women who have ever tried to obtain a prescription or refill for a contraceptive pill, patch, or ring reported difficulties doing so. Read more.
Women with prior HC-associated depression had a higher risk of developing a depressive episode during pregnancy and postpartum than women with non-HC-associated depression. These women also had more depressive episodes than women with non-HC-associated depression, according to research published in JAMA Psychiatry. Read more.
In a cohort of women living in rural counties in the US, the likelihood of getting 3 timely cancer screenings was increased 6-fold among those who received remote outreach that combined 2 tailored interventions, according to results of the randomized Rural Interventions for Screening Effectiveness study, published in JAMA Network Open. Read more.
Among women with a prepregnancy migraine diagnosis, rates of gestational hypertension and preeclampsia were 28% and 40% higher, respectively, vs women without migraine. Study participants were drawn from the Nurses' Health Study II and the results published in the journal Neurology. Read more.
In postmenopausal women, treatment with denosumab injection was associated with greater reductions in fracture risk compared with oral alendronate. In the study of nearly 500 000 women, denosumab, a RANK Ligand inhibitor, was also associated with greater reductions in fracture risk over time than the oral bisphosphonate, according to findings presented at the 2023 World Congress on Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases. Read more.
Women aged ≤55 years who survived an acute myocardial infarction may have nearly double the risk of rehospitalization in the year after hospital discharge compared to men of a similar age, according to a new study. The most common reasons for readmission did not differ by sex but women were consistently at higher risk for all-cause, coronary-related, and noncardiac rehospitalizations, according to authors writing in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Read more.
Women whose menstrual cycle varied in frequency had a significant 24% greater risk of a composite cardiovascular event during a 26-year follow-up, according to a new UK study of more than 700 000 women seen in primary care practice. These women also were more likely to be obese, of lower socioeconmic means, and to experience migraine said authors writing in BMC Medicine. Read more.
