The Women’s Health Activist Newsletter
A New Treatment for Postpartum Depression: Boon or Bane?
Taken from the March/April 2019 issue of The Women’s Health Activist Newsletter. Last November, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee voted overwhelmingly in favor of brexanolone, a first-of-its-kind treatment for postpartum depression (PPD).[1] [2] We…
Rx for Change: Changing the Culture Around Urinary Tract Infections
Many women may be surprised to discover that what they know about Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) treatment and what, previously, seemed to serve them well is being questioned and may no longer be recommended.
Keep Passing on the Pink Pill: DON’T “Get Addyi Now”!
What do you do when your product isn’t popular and sales have slumped? Gin up an advertising campaign to convince consumers that they absolutely have to have what you’re selling.
Rx for Change: The ABCs of Hospice and Palliative Care
An 83-year- old woman dies on a ventilator in the ICU. She’s been hospitalized for five of the last six months of her life.
A 57-year-old woman with recurrent metastatic breast cancer develops cancer-related fluid inside her chest cavity. She has aggressive surgery to prevent the fluid from reaccumulating. She dies in the hospital two days later.
I don’t know about you, but I very clearly remember the first time I learned about my body in grade school. It was fifth grade and all of us girls were separated from the boys and brought into a classroom with a projector. Without a word, our teachers set up the video and opened our eyes to the world of puberty.
Rx for Change: Throw Away Your Opioids
Adriane just had dental surgery and the surgeon provided a prescription for Tylenol with codeine. When she told him that opioids were not better than over-the-counter (OTC) painkillers for dental pain, the surgeon argued, “But it’s such a weak opioid.” And then he said, almost to himself, “Well, I guess it does turn to morphine in the gut.”
Giving Young People a Seat at the Table: The Advocates for Youth Experience
I became a part of the Advocates for Youth family when I was 16. Advocates had organized a lobby day in Montgomery (AL) to support changing the state’s homophobic sex education laws, and I was excited to lobby for the first time and tackle change in my home state.
Legendary journalist Barbara Seaman co-founded the NWHN in 1975, in part due to her investigations into oral contraception’s serious health risks and doctors’ refusal to take women’s complaints seriously. Her work led to Congressional hearings and sparked the revolutionary idea that patients’ have the right to accurate, helpful information about their diagnosis, conditions, treatment options, and possible risks.
What is the NWHN doing to fight for women’s rights? Read on to find out.
DEXA Dilemmas: Clarifying Recommendations for Osteoporosis Screening
With so much industry-sponsored content, who can you trust to figure out the truth about osteoporosis? Is it a serious threat to women’s health? Should you be getting bone scans, or considering medication?