Women’s Health News

BOSTON — Editors of Annals of Internal Medicine compiled a list of studies published over the past year that they said have important implications for internal medicine physicians.

Menopause symptoms substantially impact work life for more than three-quarters of women, highlighting the need for more awareness and implementation of menopause support measures in the workplace, researchers reported in Menopause.

Women with breast cancer and germline BRCA pathogenic variants had increased all-cause mortality risk if diagnosis occurred within 10 years postpartum, according to cohort study results published in JAMA Network Open.

Use of most contraceptive methods steadily decreased from 2019 to 2022, except for vasectomy, with more advanced practice clinicians and fewer physicians providing new contraceptive prescriptions, researchers reported.

The Biden-Harris administration, through the office for Civil Rights at the HHS, announced a final rule that strengthens privacy protections for lawful reproductive health care under HIPAA.

Women with breast cancer living in the most vs. the least disadvantaged neighborhoods had higher risks for breast cancer-specific and overall mortality, according to cohort study results published in JAMA Network Open.

Women with preterm birth, small for gestational age infants, preeclampsia, hypertensive disorders or gestational diabetes had increased mortality risks persisting more than 40 years after delivery, researchers reported.

BOSTON — The new, over-the-counter birth control option is an important advancement for women without health insurance, but it may be less effective than other options, according to presenters at the ACP Internal Medicine Meeting.

Long delays in endometriosis diagnosis are the result of factors spanning from lack of patient and provider awareness to insurance issues. Physicians should consider endometriosis when patients present with abdominal pain, an expert said.

Social media has been a powerful tool in expanding endometriosis awareness to women who might have the condition and to providers who might not be very knowledgeable about it.