Common Corpus No. 1
For all women, for life
Welcome to this first edition of Common Corpus, a newsletter dedicated to curating and sharing the best in women’s health content online each week, so you can feel better equipped to navigate, optimize and advocate for your health, no matter your health concerns or stage of life.
This week we cover a wide range of topics, including how health issues during adolescence and pregnancy can predict pain and disease later in life, a new non-hormonal treatment for hot flashes, unpacking what a ‘normal’ menstrual cycle is, and tracing the history of medical misogyny and how that shapes women’s healthcare today.
We hope you find this first edition interesting and useful, and we hope you’ll stick around for more in the weeks to come.
News & Noteworthy
What’s making the news in women’s health
Health issues in middle age linked to pregnancy years earlier
Emerging data highlights that conditions like pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes are strong predictors of cardiovascular disease, often manifesting as heart attacks or hypertension years after childbirth.
• It is still unclear if complications during pregnancy indicate a pre-existing health issue or contribute more directly to health issues later in life.
• It does seem clear, however, that these complications should be viewed as early warning signs rather than events isolated to pregnancy and followed up over the long-term.
The Takeaway: Conditions like pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes should be viewed as a red flag for developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease later in life, and should be taken into account along with other risk factors (like family history) that women and their doctors consider when managing their heart and metabolic health.
LINK (non-paywalled), LINK (paywalled)
Clitoral nerves fully mapped for the first time
Researchers in the Netherlands have, for the first time, fully mapped the entire network of nerves running through the clitoris.
• The researchers used high-energy x-rays to create 3-D scans of several female pelvis, revealing the reach of the five branches of the clitoral nerves.
• The findings show the network of nerves is more extensive than previous research had suggested.
• This full mapping of the clitoral nerves may help inform reconstructive surgery after female genital mutilation, surgery for vulvar cancer, gender reassignment surgery, and cosmetic genital surgeries.
The takeaway: Coming nearly 30 years after the penal nerves were fully mapped, this marks and important moment in our understanding of female anatomy that is long overdue. It also lays a foundation for more attention to the importance of female sexual pleasure, particularly in genital surgeries, where it has not been treated with the same importance as male sexual function and pleasure.
The Latest Research
The latest in academic research in women’s health
New non-hormonal alternative treatment for hot flashes
For women who can’t or choose not to use hormone therapy to treat vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause, a clinical trial in The BMJ finds that the non-hormonal drug fezolinetant offers an effective alternative for managing these symptoms. Fezolinetant reduced the frequency and severity of hot flashes and night sweats and also improved sleep quality. This offers a much-needed, evidence-backed alternative for treating the most common and disruptive symptoms of menopause, particularly for those who may not be candidates for menopause hormone therapy.
Teenage period pain linked to chronic pain later in life
Period pain is often dismissed or minimized as simply a part of life as a woman; however, new research suggests that adolescent dysmenorrhoea (period pain) could be a key predictor of chronic pain later in life. A recent study in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health finds that those with severe period pain at age 15 had a 76% higher risk of chronic pain by age 26. Interestingly, dysmenorrhoea in adolescence was not just associated with chronic pain in the abdomen or lower back, but also elsewhere in the body in adulthood. It may be that persistent menstrual pain during adolescence can lead to long-term changes in how the nervous system processes pain. Once established, chronic pain can be both difficult to manage and have huge consequences for the individual and as well as society and the healthcare system. This is a clear argument for taking period pain seriously, and early and effective management of this pain to prevent future chronic pain.
Listen & Learn
The latest in women’s health audio content worth your time
UnPAUSED: From Hysteria to Medical Gaslighting and the Path Forward with Dr. Elizabeth Comen
Dr. Mary Claire Haver, OBGYN, and oncologist Dr. Elizabeth Comen explore the deep-seated history of medical misogyny, detailing how the medical system was fundamentally constructed using the male body as the default standard and how this has led to systemic gaps in healthcare funding, research, diagnosis and treatment for women. Despite all this, they argue that there is a cultural shift underway in women’s healthcare, with increasing recognition that women’s health extends beyond their reproductive system, and women increasingly recognizing the importance of advocating for themselves for the care they need.
LINK
As a Woman: Getting to the root cause of irregular cycles
Dr. Natalie Crawford, OBGYN, argues that your menstrual cycle is a vital sign of overall health and that understanding the cause of an irregular cycle is crucial because it can be a sign of underlying hormonal issues that not only affect fertility but also long-term health. She explains what makes a menstrual cycle ‘normal’ or ‘abnormal’, and what red flags should lead you to seek medical advice. She argues that far too many women with irregular cycles are simply prescribed hormonal contraception to regulate their cycles, without ever getting to the root cause, doing a huge disservice to women and their health.
The Global Perspective
Women’s health around the world
The Unravelling of Progress on Abortion Access in Latin America
Women’s abortion rights are under threat or increasingly restricted in parts of Latin America — both Argentina and Ecuador have moved to restrict access to abortion pills and Chile’s incoming president may be poised to further tighten access to abortion as well. But El Salvador, which already has some of the strictest abortion laws in the world, seems to be moving towards re-criminalizing and even stricter application of existing laws.
LINK
Common Interest
Quick hits that we found interesting, thought-provoking, or useful this week
The Pink Pill, a new documentary now streaming, follows the fight to get approval for Addyi — “the female viagra” — and lays bare the inequities and gender bias in healthcare and the stigma associated with female sexual health. LINK
New data from a Kings College London and IPSOS Mori survey suggest global views on gender roles and gender equality are moving in a negative direction — Gen Z men hold the most traditional views of gender roles compared to Millennial, Gen X and Boomer men. LINK , FULL REPORT
Some Indian states take an interesting step towards recognizing the value of women’s unpaid domestic and care work. LINK