News

The International Menopause Society (IMS), in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), has designated October as World Menopause Awareness Month. Although it is a natural part of the aging process, menopause creates much uncertainty and worry among women. To counteract this stigma, the awareness month promotes talking openly about menopause, and encouraging ways to embrace this phase. Sure, there are undesirable symptoms, like hot flashes, but there are also some upsides – think, no more periods, PMS, or sex with pregnancy worries. It can also be a time to enjoy the increased self-confidence and personal freedom that menopause often brings.  This...

During the menopause transition, hot flashes and night sweats don’t affect all women the same. Researchers over the years have attempted to address variation in symptom intensity, duration and onset. A new study now reveals how genetics may play a role. “Our research team was interested in the genetic factors that influence reproductive aging, hormone levels and trajectories, and the symptoms of the menopausal transition,” says Jennifer Smith, a genetic epidemiologist at the University of Michigan. “We (monitored) vasomotor symptoms before and during menopause, specifically, hot flashes and night sweats.” The study, published this Spring in Menopause, the journal of...

Cervical cancer, which is largely preventable, takes hundreds of thousands of lives each year. The disease impacts poorer countries at a greater rate due to insufficient access to testing and reliable diagnostic tools. This month, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Human Reproduction Programme (HRP) published new screening and treatment recommendations to prevent cervical cancer in women around the globe, including promoting the use of a more accurate and cost-effective human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA-based test. The goal of this global strategy is to have 70% of women tested by 2030, supported by several efforts: Administering the more accurate – and...