Happy Birthday!
One year ago we launched our first edition of Eve Was Framed. It was months in the making and our first thought was - what can we do better next week?
Ok. That was our second thought. Our first thought was “We did it! Now we need to figure out how to keep doing it.”
We’ve spent the year on our own learning journey (more about that in the first piece of the Tasting Menu). Learning about health topics. Learning what it takes to deliver this to you each week. Learning how to keep improving our approach to inclusive content. Learning how to expand our definition of health.
We’ve got big plans ahead and would love to hear from you on what we can do better, more of, less of or different. Please take a minute this week to share some feedback in the survey at the end of the edition.
And help us share the health but sharing the newsletter with friends.
Here’s to the future!
- Maggie Ruvoldt & Stephanie Majercik
The Tasting Menu
Reflections On Our First Birthday
Vitamins - Too Much of a Good Thing
Informed Consent and the History of Birth Control
Reflections On Our First Birthday
Wow. One year of Eve Was Framed. It’s hard to believe this was just an idea at the start of 2022 and our first edition went out 12 months ago.
We’ve learned a lot and wanted to share some musings about the journey so far.
One thing we got right.
When we first started sharing what we were building, some people told us it was a small niche idea. Niche? Women’s health? Um. No.
We have heard from many of you that you agreed learning more about our bodies and health is a priority and hard to do. We are thrilled to help fill the gap.
One thing we underestimated.
Some topics are easier to research and share because the sources of our research are easier to validate. As we look to cover topics around alternative or nontraditional approaches to health, it’s more challenging to vet the information. We’re working on this one.
And it kind of cracks us up that methods which have been around for centuries are considered “alternative” or “nontraditional”.
One thing that surprised us
Women’s bodies are amazing. Well, that’s not surprising. But certain facts we learned along the way brought that home…
Women’s brains are more wired to make social connections and adapt new routines more easily
Women’s muscles fatigue less easily making us naturally built for endurance
Women can detect more gradations in color especially in the middle of the spectrum
Women’s pain tolerance is higher and they tend to find it less stressful
One thing that makes it all worth it
Over the course of the year, your feedback has inspired us. Many of you have shared that you’ve taken action about your health from reading an item we shared.
Some scheduled recommended tests or appointments.
Some cleaned out pantries, medicine cabinets or makeup bags.
Some shared that a piece we published made you feel more seen, less alone or more confident advocating for yourself or a loved one.
The journey continues and we are grateful you are joining us on the way.
Vitamins - Too Much of a Good Thing
It’s fairly common to take vitamins to supplement what you get through your diet. However, excessive amounts of vitamins can lead to a condition known as vitamin overdose or toxicity. While vitamin overdoses are relatively rare, there are some facts that can help you decide which ones and how much to add to your daily regime. (Of course, talking to your healthcare provider first is your best bet.)
Fat-soluble vitamins, such as vitamins A, D, E, and K, are more likely to cause toxicity as they are stored in the body's fat tissues and can accumulate over time. Water-soluble vitamins, including vitamin C and the B-complex vitamins, are generally eliminated from the body through urine and pose a lower risk of overdose
The symptoms of vitamin overdose vary depending on the specific vitamin and the extent of the excess intake. Common symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, fatigue, dizziness, and even organ damage in severe cases
Read and follow the recommended dosages indicated on vitamin supplement labels. Avoid exceeding the daily recommended intake unless directed by a healthcare professional
It’s not one size fits all. Some conditions impact vitamin absorption and others can be made worse if you have too much or too little of certain vitamins. Your healthcare provider can help you figure out what supplements you need. For example, celiac disease and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can reduce absorption of vitamin D, B12 and folate. Multiple Sclerosis (MS) has been linked to lower ability to absorb vitamin D and B vitamins and lower levels of these can make MS symptoms worse
Medication plays a role too. Some cholesterol lowering meds can interfere with fat-soluble vitamin absorption. If you’re taking a course of antibiotics, they can disrupt your gut bacteria affecting your absorption of vitamin K and some B vitamins
Informed Consent and the History of Birth Control
For us today, the idea of “informed consent” is something we probably all take for granted. In healthcare, it means that before you agree to any sort of treatment, procedure, or medication, that you’ve had the opportunity to discuss with your doctor, you understand the risks and/or side effects, and are making an educated decision.
This seems like a common sense approach that of course doctors have followed throughout the history of medicine…right?
Unfortunately, relatively recent history shows us the lengths doctors and scientists would go to, to bring medical innovations to market – like the birth control pill.
As the birth control pill was being developed in the 1950s, many states across America were opposed to the idea of contraception – making it difficult for the developers of the pill to conduct large scale trials. Couple this with the fact that the early advocates and creators of the birth control pill were also eugenicists and saw the pill as a way to prevent “unfit” people from procreating, they looked to Puerto Rico as the ideal place to test their pill.
Scientists recruited women – many poor and undereducated – to their trials, promising them a new drug that would prevent pregnancies. These women had no knowledge that the drug was not approved by the FDA, that they were participating in a clinical trial, nor were they given any safety information about the product.
Many participants came forward to report severe side effects such as nausea, headaches, stomach pain, and vomiting and three women in the trial died. In 1960, the FDA approved the pill, and the scientists returned to America, leaving the women violated and now without contraception as the pill was too expensive for the trial participants to afford.
In much of its history, the trials in Puerto Rico were ignored, or completely left out of future hearings and legislation. And while we can appreciate the advances and opportunity of birth control today, we have to realize that to get there, thousands of women were taken advantage of, suffered needlessly, and were ultimately left behind.
Birth control wasn’t the first or the last medical innovation to take advantage of vulnerable populations without informed consent. Today, the list of risks associated with birth control (in all its forms) is long and extensive, and we have the opportunity to understand those risks and determine if what we’re getting from our birth control is worth taking on. That opportunity was stolen from the women of Puerto Rico and it's up to us to ensure that practices like that never occur again.
Medical Term of the Week
As we thought about informed consent, we realized you can’t make informed consent about something you don’t understand. That’s where this week’s medical term comes it.
Health Literacy refers to how well you can find, understand and use health related information and resources to make decisions.
Basically increasing health literacy is the reason Eve Was Framed exists.
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