Wait, Maggie’s wearing red?!?

You’ll see Maggie, along with others, wearing red on Friday, February 3rd. It’s not an early nod to Valentine’s Day. It’s National Go Red Day to raise awareness for heart health in women. 

We encourage you to join in and tag Eve Was Framed! 

- Maggie Ruvoldt & Stephanie Majercik

The Tasting Menu

• Building a Healthier Social Media Feed

• Facts and Questions About Perimenopause and Menopause

• Heart Health Month

Building a Healthier Social Media Feed

As part of our mission to bring more awareness and education to women’s health - we want to make sure you’re aware of some of the companies, organizations, and individuals who we find critical to women’s health and who have helped shape our journeys!

Give a follow to:

• Origin (@theoriginway) is a physical therapy provider (in-person and virtual) specifically for the pelvic floor. Their content advocates for rest, all the ways pelvic floor PT may help, and all things women’s health and sexual health (specific to our vaginas and pelvic floor)

• Hey Jane (@heyjanehealth) is a virtual clinic providing abortion care. They not only ship you abortion pills, but have a holistic care network before during and after your treatment, including mental health care and access to a peer network

• Women of Wearables (@women_of_wearables) is a global organization for women in tech. If you want to meet the women championing and creating new tech to support women’s health - Women of Wearables promotes femtech founders and companies

• Resolve (@resolveorg) is the National Infertility Association - advocating for those who have experienced/are experiencing infertility and educating the public about this disease.

Our personal recommendations

• From Stephanie: @erinsinsidejob
  “I started following Erin because she was a trainer at one of the gyms I frequented and I took her classes all the time. She shares authentically about her journey as a personal trainer, a person in recovery from addiction, C-sections, and the ups and downs of motherhood. It's from her I first learned what the heck a pelvic floor is! I recommend her to all my new parent friends, as well as anyone else looking for an unfiltered perspective on all things life can throw at us!”

• From Maggie: @drJenniferLincoln

“Dr. Lincoln shares all kinds of content on women’s health and is a reproductive rights activist. She’s spreading the word on fake abortion clinics. She’s normalizing conversations about our bodies, our cycles and sex. She’s authentic and funny but most importantly, she’s a qualified resource.”

You can find many of these companies and individuals (and several others!) in our story highlights on Instagram for an easy follow - we’ll be posting links to the others to our story throughout the week.

Facts and Questions About Perimenopause and Menopause

Nearly half of the women surveyed by Bonafide for their State of Menopause report didn’t know the difference between perimenopause and menopause. We’ve got 5 facts you should know about this stage in life and 3 questions to ask your healthcare provider.

5 facts

• Menopause is a single day. It’s twelve months after your last period. Prior to that you are in perimenopause and after you are post-menopausal. Perimenopause can start anytime in your 40s.

• The loss of estrogen has a big impact on bone health and loss. Getting enough calcium and vitamin D as well as weight-bearing exercises will help keep bones strong.

• It’s more than hot flashes and irregular periods. There are 34 signs of perimenopause and menopause. These can include vaginal dryness, tingling in your limbs, and even changes in how food tastes!

• There are new guidelines around the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT). The benefits are now shown to outweigh the risks of breast cancer. And a recent study indicates it may even delay Alzheimer’s in some women.

• It’s not all doom and gloom. Most women report that perimenopause and menopause were not as bad as they expected. In fact, some women report feeling a greater sense of freedom and confidence.

When talking with your healthcare provider about signs and symptoms as well as this stage in life, here are three questions to get you started.

• What non-hormonal options do you suggest for managing signs? There are lots of over-the-counter products for vaginal dryness. Nutritional changes can aid with managing bone loss and weight gain. 

• Is hormone replacement an option for you? If not, why not? Some medical professionals may downplay the symptoms with a “this will improve in time.” Don’t suffer unnecessarily. 

• With the lower hormone levels in your body and your personal and family history, what is your new risk profile for heart disease, osteoperosis, or other conditions?

For more check out the Northern American Menopause Society’s website. They have a wealth of information! Including a practitioner database if you aren’t happy with your provider. 

Heart Health Month

There are three things that make learning about heart health incredibly important:

• More than half of women are unaware that heart disease is the leading cause of death in women. 

• The “silent” nature of heart disease (illness with no symptoms) is more common in women than men and women don’t recognize the symptoms they do have.

• When they present with symptoms of heart disease, it is more likely to be overlooked in women.

Although we think of heart attacks most when discussing heart disease there are other conditions you should know about. 

When the blood flow to the heart is restricted, people experience angina. It’s a squeezing or pressure feeling in the chest. Women may experience pain or discomfort in their neck and jaw rather than the chest.

If the heartbeat becomes irregular it’s called arrhythmia. Long-term untreated arrhythmia can harm your heart. 

If the heart can no longer do its core job of pumping blood effectively throughout the body, it’s called heart failure. 

To protect your heart you can do the main health lifestyle habits that help with many illnesses:

• Exercise for 30 minutes a day

• Focus on mental health to manage stress

• Eat healthy (of course)

• Don’t smoke and limit alcohol

• Talk with your healthcare provider during pregnancy and perimenopause/menopause about the hormonal changes that impact your heart.

To read more about heart disease and women, we recommend the Cleveland Clinic’s Cardiovascular Disease in Women information page. 

Medical Term of the Week

An echocardiogram is one of several tests providers use to assess your heart health. It uses sound waves to image your heart to see how your heart is beating and how blood is flowing through it. There is no radiation like there is with x-rays or CT scans. There are several types including one performed before and after you exercise.

The Latest

We took a step forward last year with ad rules around women’s sexual wellness. But it was only one step in a long journey. (From Beauty Independent) 

Another place we need to make more strides is in health-tech for older women. The menopause market is huge. We see some great investment happening here. (From Business Express)

File this under an interesting idea. We have 529 plans for college savings. What about a similar plan for fertility? (from LinkedIn)