Nothing Scarier Than Super Bacteria
This past week was International Day of the Girl. It’s celebrated on October 11th each year. We thought it was a good time to reflect on our hopes and wishes for the health of the next generation of women.
International Day of the Girl was established by the United Nations in 2011 to highlight the unique challenges and potential of girls worldwide. It is a day dedicated to promoting gender equality and empowering girls.
The history of this observance traces back to the global effort to address issues like gender discrimination, lack of access to education, and child marriage. The day serves as a reminder of the importance of investing in girls' rights and opportunities for their personal and professional growth. It also encourages discussions, initiatives, and policy changes aimed at creating a more equitable world for girls everywhere.
Our last piece this week is a wish list for the future.
- Maggie Ruvoldt & Stephanie Majercik
The Tasting Menu
Your Role in Antibiotic Resistance
Evaluating Your Need for Fertility Testing
Our Wish for the Future
Your Role in Antibiotic Resistance
Antibiotic resistance is a global problem, and we all need to be in the know. So, what's the deal with antibiotic resistance? Well, here's the basics:
First things first, antibiotics are like the superheroes of the medical world. They've been saving lives for ages. But here's the hard news – bacteria are evolving, and they're becoming resistant to these miracle drugs. So, it’s a fight that keeps getting more complicated.
The World Health Organization shared some key facts and what can be done globally to address what is a growing crisis. Imagine a world of superbugs for which our current antibiotics are not effective.
We’re not trying to create fear with this piece. Our goal is to share useful and accurate information on the role we can all play in this. The steps we can each take are surprisingly simple!
Overuse is a Big No Overuse of antibiotics, like taking them for viral infections (coughs, colds, and the flu), can lead to resistance. They don’t work on viruses. So, next time you're feeling under sick, if your healthcare provider suggests antibiotics, don't hesitate to ask questions. Are they really necessary? What are the risks and benefits? This helps avoid unnecessary prescriptions.
Complete the Course If you do need antibiotics, make sure to finish the full course, even if you start feeling better. Incomplete courses can leave behind the toughest bacteria, which can then come back with a vengeance - not just for you, for all of us.
Limit Antibacterial Products This one surprised us a bit! Reduce the use of antibacterial soaps and cleaning products in your home. Regular soap and water are often just as effective for handwashing, and the overuse of antibacterial agents may contribute to resistance. In fact, you can read more from the FDA about these products.
Avoid Sharing Antibiotics If you needed us to tell you now to share any prescriptions with other people, here’s your reminder. Never share antibiotics with others or take antibiotics prescribed for someone else. Each antibiotic prescription is specific to an individual's condition, and sharing can lead to incorrect treatment and antibiotic resistance
Remember, antibiotic resistance affects women not just as patients but also as caregivers for our loved ones. By being informed and spreading the word, we can help combat this worldwide issue. It's like our own mission, one story at a time.
Evaluating Your Need for Fertility Testing
Are you actively trying to conceive with your partner or hoping to have kids soon and want to prepare? Or are you in a good place and not ready for kids right now but curious to know if you’re at risk or need to make any changes assuming kids are a few years away?
There are several reasons that you might want to pursue fertility testing but how do you know when is a good time?
If you’re a few years away from wanting kids
Pre-pregnancy testing is something you and/or your partner may want to explore even before you’re ready to have kids. Perhaps you’re considering freezing your eggs or sperm and want to identify the best timeline for starting that process. Or if you know your pregnancy will fall as you approach an at-risk, it's helpful to know in advance if there are any lifestyle changes you may want to start on to improve chances down the road.
Other factors, such as irregular periods, bleeding after sex, or conditions like PCOS and endometriosis can also prompt earlier testing to measure how systems are functioning.
If you’ve been trying to conceive
You’re ready to have kids and actively trying to conceive but have been frustrated at the lack of results. The general recommendation is that if you’ve been trying to conceive and have been unsuccessful for one year (without any birth control) then its a good time to evaluate larger factors (for women over 35 this timeline shrinks to 6 months)
Some questions to ask yourself if you think you need fertility testing:
Am I at an at risk age or will I be when I’m ready for pregnancy?
Do I have any existing conditions that could impact my fertility or other warning signs I want to be sure haven’t affected me in a bigger way?
Is there a history of certain lifestyle factors that may impact my (or my partner’s) ability to conceive in the future (such as smoking, excessive drinking, etc)?
Have I been off birth control long enough?
Several femtech companies now do at home testing as well. This could be another great option to get an initial understanding of your fertility before seeing a doctor for more thorough testing or treatments. Verywell Health has a great list of different at-home tests!
Once you’ve decided to pursue the testing and are reviewing results of the tests with your doctor later, we found a great list of questions to ask your doctor to help you interpret and understand the results as well as the next steps in your treatment plan.
Our Wish for the Future
Most of us wish for the future that is brighter and better for future generations and we’re not different. In the past few years, however, as we’ve seen reproductive rights eroded, we also wish for regaining those rights for the future. Here are some other thoughts in honor of International Day of the Girl
The stigma of seeking mental health support continues to fade. There is a crisis in the mental health of women and young girls. Even as younger women are more comfortable with talking about and seeking help for mental health issues, social media, the pandemic and reduced control of their reproductive lives have all contributed to increased mental health burdens.
A return to access to reproductive care including abortion. The overturning of Roe v. Wade has been devastating. And before that access to reproductive care was an issue particularly for women of color and for those with fewer financial resources. We’d like to see this map of abortion laws by state change dramatically.
Financial equality on what we pay for healthcare. Women pay 20% more for healthcare needs and only 2% is maternity care?!? Yeah, we don’t care for that. There are myriad reasons but also lots of solutions. Yes we need more well woman care and follow ups from that can be where the expense lies.
The Future of Women’s Health funding. We’re excited to see more money flowing into research and specialized care like pelvic floor health, menopause care and increase of participation in clinical trials. We believe all this will bring better overall care.
Basic needs being considered as obvious. Reasonable childcare and paid parental leave are two of the items we’d like to see addressed. Financial wellness and freedom are key to women’s future, physical and mental health. These two issues in particuar are a huge strain for women.
Medical Term of the Week
Are bacteria and germs the same thing? We found ourselves asking this basic question this week.
Germs are a broad term for 4 types of things that cause disease: bacteria, fungi, viruses and protozoa. If you want to learn more about each, the Mayo Clinic has a resource to delve deeper. Spoiler alert: not all germs are bad.
The Latest
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