Yeah, Why Don’t They?
Have you ever read something that didn’t come as a surprise and yet infuriated you at the same time?
Enter the New York Time article “Half the World Has a Clitoris. Why Don’t Doctors Study It?” It starts with a story of a woman who, despite her own misgivings, assumes her physician was “an authority on this part of the body”, with truly tragic consequences. Stories like the ones in the piece are the reason we are working so hard on our mission to put women in control of their bodies and their health.
Maggie even submitted a letter to the Editor calling for a change in the conversation on women’s health. We’ll keep you posted if they publish it.
In the meantime, we’ll keep on our journey!
- Maggie Ruvoldt & Stephanie Majercik
The Tasting Menu
If You Learned Nothing Else During Breast Cancer Awareness Month…
The Ins and Outs of Fertility Testing
Autoimmune Diseases - What Are They?
If You Learned Nothing Else During Breast Cancer Awareness Month…
Because we share our learnings with you on a variety of women’s health topics, we know we are a starting point, not a comprehensive resource or you won’t remember everything we share.
So as we wrap up Breast Cancer Awareness Month, here are the most important takeaways we want you to remember:
Get to know your body. Please start a breast self-exam habit. Need a reminder on how to do one? The Breasties appeared on Good Morning American and showed us how! Or you can go to BreastCancer.org for details on self-exams
Get your annual screenings. Not everything will be discovered through a self-exam, especially if you have dense breasts. Early detection is critical and screenings are the way to go. Learn more about mammography from Susan G. Komen
Speaking of Susan G. Komen, we love their risk factors table for understanding what increases and decreases risk for breast cancer
If you do nothing else, open your calendar right now and put a monthly reminder on our phone to do a self-breast exam. Want to take an extra step and be bold? Make your breast self-exam an appointment and invite the women you care most about to do their exams too!
Know Your Options - The Ins and Outs of Fertility Testing
Is it just us, or is fertility testing often presented in the media in a very vague way? Seems like every time we see this portrayed, we know that men have to get their semen analyzed, and then women undergo some “tests”, but there’s no further detail provided.
Truth is, there are a lot of different ways to test fertility or determine infertility. And while generally fertility testing is referenced in conjunction with infertility diagnoses, it isn’t just about infertility. It is also helpful in family planning for individuals and couples heterosexual people and those in the LGBTQ+ community .
When to consider fertility testing?
If you have been trying to get pregnant for over a year, this is when most experts will advise you to test for fertility. If you’re over the age of 35, then it's recommended to test after 6 months of trying. For anyone, fertility testing can be a good way to understand if all your reproductive organs are functioning in the way they should and to plan early for options to build your family.
What types of tests are involved?
We’re just going to focus on tests for women, but for our male readers out there, it's more than just semen analysis! There are several different tests women can get to understand their fertility and reproductive function. Hormone testing is usually the first place to start - understanding hormone levels in different phases of your cycle. It’s also usually a starting point for other tests listed below:
Ovarian reserve testing - knowing how many eggs you have for ovulation
Hysterosalpingography (please don’t ask us to say this out loud), or HSG - an x-ray that looks at the condition of your fallopian tubes and uterus
Imaging tests - ultrasounds or sonograms to examine the uterus and ovaries for signs of disease
Ovulation tests - blood tests that measure your hormones to determine if you’re ovulating
Do I need to see a doctor?
Not anymore! There are several companies now offering at-home fertility tests. This can be a great first step to understanding your fertility. Make sure to do your research and determine what the best option for you is. You may want to engage with a specialist if you have questions about your results or anything comes up that concerns you, but here’s a few companies offering at-home fertility tests for women!
Autoimmune Diseases - What Are They?
Your immune system is your body’s defense system. It protects you against things like bacteria or toxins coming from outside. You are born with some of these defenses and others develop over time as you are exposed to forces that may make you sick. (more on that in the Medical Term of the Week)
Sometimes, the immune system turns on the body and starts attacking it. That comes in the form of autoimmune diseases. Quite simply, your immune system sees a part of the body as an outside invader and goes to work.
A stunning 80% of autoimmune patients are women. And the term autoimmune disease is an umbrella for over one hundred chronic conditions. They affect 23.5 million people in the U.S. alone.
Some of those conditions include the following:
Celiac Disease
Graves’ disease
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) including Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis
Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
Lupus
There is no known cause for autoimmune illnesses and they can be very challenging to diagnose. Depending on the system in your body impacted, you may need a specialist for accurate diagnosis and treatment.
While many symptoms vary by condition there are certain common ones across autoimmune conditions including muscle aches, heavy fatigue, and low-grade fever.
They tend to run in families with family members developing different but related conditions. So understanding your family history is important.
Resources to learn more
Johns Hopkins page on your immune system
Office of Women’s health information on Autoimmune diseases
Cleveland Clinic Autoimmune disease page listing conditions by system (endocrine, digestive, etc
Healthline information on the 14 most common autoimmune diseases
Medical Term of the Week
Innate or Adaptive Immune System? Both, please.
Your innate immune system is the faster and more general defense. Any threat it detects causes a nonspecific response. This includes our skin as a barrier to germs or toxins getting into our bodies. We’re born with these responses.
Your adaptive immune system develops responses to specific threats after encountering them. It’s your immune system’s way of saying “Hey, I know you!” to a bacteria or infection and responding to it specifically.
Your adaptive immune system is why you can become immune to some illnesses through vaccines or having had the illness before.
The Latest
Cheers for CVS. They are lowering the cost of their branded period products. AND paying the tax on those products in 12 states so customers don't have to. Take that Pink Tax (From HealthLine)
Women report lessening interest in sex during perimenopause and menopause. There are a variety of reasons for that. So where’s our viagra? Turns out there are options (From Bonafide)
This one shows 3 things we love: The power of breaking down taboos. Actionable ways to address period poverty. And a company we love, Aunt Flow. Read about how an 11-year-old boy took on period poverty at his school. (From Upworthy)