https://medicalxpress.com/womens-health-news/ en-us Latest health news and information about Women's Health A chemical used to make plastic more flexible, once introduced as a safer substitute for older additives now known to be harmful, may itself be harmful, slowing babies' growth in the womb, a new study shows. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-exposure-safer-plastic-additive-pregnancy.html Tue, 13 Oct 2026 09:40:06 EDT news711097932 Engaging in physical activity during menopause can improve depression, mood and overall quality of life, a new study led by UCL researchers has found. Published in Menopause, the review of more than 1,000 women studied the effects of physical activity on psychological well-being and quality of life during perimenopause and early postmenopause. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-physical-mood-quality-life-menopause.html Tue, 13 Oct 2026 07:00:11 EDT news711015212 Females with autoimmune diseases are significantly more likely than males to have their autoimmune disease misdiagnosed as a psychiatric or psychosomatic condition, according to a study of more than 6,600 patients. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-females-autoimmune-diseases-believed-males.html Mon, 12 Oct 2026 18:30:01 EDT news711018601 The final menstrual period is preceded by abrupt "cliff-like" biological changes across multiple body systems, some of which show early signs more than a decade beforehand, according to research published in Nature Medicine. The findings suggest that menopause-related physiological changes may occur over a shorter time frame than previously thought and advance our understanding of how early these changes can be detected. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-menopause-body-wide-physiological-cliff.html Mon, 12 Oct 2026 18:00:02 EDT news711041641 Playing more and more, struggling to cut back, or continuing to game despite its negative impact on everyday life can all be signs of gaming disorder. But what about women who play video games and may be overlooked by conventional diagnostic tools? https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-gaming-disorder-screening-overlook-women.html Mon, 12 Oct 2026 12:20:17 EDT news711022802 Two major international studies are providing new insight into how human milk is regulated, showing that some components respond to maternal nutrition, while others remain stable or reflect biological processes involved in lactation and infant growth. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-reveals-remarkable-complexity-human.html Fri, 09 Oct 2026 13:20:23 EDT news710768228 A study led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine identified shared molecular patterns in human milk that link maternal nutrition, mammary gland biology and infant growth. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-human-window-mammary-gland-function.html Thu, 08 Oct 2026 14:01:02 EDT news710600678 Andrea Romanos-Nanclares, Ph.D., of the Channing Division of Network Medicine within the Department of Medicine at Mass General Brigham, is the lead author of a paper published in The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology, & Women's Health titled "The Nurses' Health Studies: a half-century of discovery in women's health." A. Heather Eliassen, ScD, of Mass General Brigham and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, is the senior author. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-women-health-reveal-lessons-disease.html Thu, 08 Oct 2026 11:40:18 EDT news710673663 Three years ago, George Kassiotis and his team made an unexpected discovery: A specific way of producing a protein called calbindin was found to help cancer cells survive by preventing them from aging. This left Kassiotis, who runs the Crick's Retroviral Immunology Laboratory, confused. Why would a mechanism that boosts cancer growth exist in the first place? https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-ancient-viral-dna-embryonic-stem.html Thu, 08 Oct 2026 10:40:32 EDT news710671621 Vaccination against a common respiratory virus during pregnancy lowers the risk of severe disease in babies by 74%, but uptake in many countries remains low, a new review suggests. The report also reveals evidence of lower uptake of the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine among some socioeconomic and ethnic groups, those with reduced access to health care and younger mothers. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-global-stark-differences-maternal-rsv.html Wed, 07 Oct 2026 18:30:18 EDT news710592421 Receiving the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine before pregnancy is associated with a lower risk of major pregnancy complications, including preterm birth, with a greater reduction in risk seen among women vaccinated at an earlier age, according to a large Swedish study published by The BMJ. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-hpv-vaccination-pregnancy-linked-preterm.html Wed, 07 Oct 2026 18:30:07 EDT news710588281 Common chemicals called phthalates, which are used in plastics, cosmetics and personal care products, may affect several different cell types in the human ovary. This is shown in a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in the journal eBioMedicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-phthalate-byproduct-affects-multiple-cell.html Wed, 07 Oct 2026 15:20:11 EDT news710603281