https://medicalxpress.com/womens-health-news/ en-us Latest health news and information about Women's Health Having an epidural during labor is not associated with clinically significant increased risks of harm to newborn babies, including brain injury, severe breathing problems, sepsis and death, or cerebral palsy later in childhood, according to a study published in The BMJ. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-epidurals-linked-newborns-children.html Wed, 15 Jul 2026 18:30:06 EDT news703314795 Women should ignore most of the exercise advice they see on social media, University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka researchers say. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-debunks-women-advice.html Wed, 15 Jul 2026 14:20:01 EDT news703338642 Nearly half the world's population experiences menopause, yet many of its emotional, cognitive and social impacts may never be discussed during medical appointments. New research published today in JAMA Network Open, led by UMD Professor Yulin Hswen, highlights these "silent symptoms" by comparing clinical notes that include menopause symptoms with the top Reddit posts in menopause forums. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-reddit-reveal-silent-symptoms-menopause.html Wed, 15 Jul 2026 12:40:03 EDT news703329123 Amid all the advances in modern medicine, much of the science behind a woman's menstrual cycle remains mysterious, so a team at Hudson Institute of Medical Research is aiming to change that. Professor Caroline Gargett is an expert in the human endometrium, the highly regenerative lining of the uterus, and is world-renowned for discovering the stem/progenitor cells it contains. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-stem-cell-science-mysteries-menstrual.html Wed, 15 Jul 2026 10:00:09 EDT news703325825 Men and women are not born with the same risk of heart disease, and for decades scientists have struggled to explain why. A new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, published in Genes & Development, offers an answer: The female heart depends on a molecular safeguard that the male heart can largely do without—and when that safeguard is removed, female hearts fail while male hearts keep beating. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-genetic-safeguard-female-heart-lost.html Tue, 14 Jul 2026 19:00:09 EDT news703254841 Pregnancy can be a warning light. Rutgers researchers found that cardiovascular health during pregnancy was linked to how soon women were later diagnosed with chronic hypertension or metabolic conditions after giving birth. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-pregnancy-flag-future-heart-metabolic.html Tue, 14 Jul 2026 08:40:07 EDT news703233336 The odds of human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancers are higher among people with HIV (PWH) and solid-organ transplant recipients (SOTRs), according to a study published in JAMA Network Open. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-odds-hpv-cancers-people-hiv.html Mon, 13 Jul 2026 20:40:06 EDT news703143827 Uterine fibroids and endometriosis are two of the most common gynecologic diseases, affecting 15% to 80% of women of childbearing age. Existing treatments—hormonal drugs and selective estrogen receptor modulators—have side effects and cannot reliably prevent recurrence. This is why less harmful non-hormonal therapies are urgently needed. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-natural-compound-estrogen-arena.html Mon, 13 Jul 2026 19:40:02 EDT news703147759 Testosterone may play a bigger role in the emotional development of girls entering puberty than previously thought, according to new research from the University of Georgia published in Psychoneuroendocrinology. Greater changes in the hormone were linked to more emotional difficulties among girls ages 10–12, even when accounting for levels of other hormones. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-hormonal-puberty-linked-emotional-distress.html Mon, 13 Jul 2026 14:40:01 EDT news703164002 A study has found some tampons leach low levels of chemicals that disrupt hormones, regardless of whether they are synthetic or organic. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-synthetic-tampons-leach-hormone-disrupting.html Thu, 09 Jul 2026 13:20:01 EDT news702809760 Fertility declines as women get older for many reasons, such as a drop in egg quality, decreased follicle numbers and hardening of ovarian tissues. That's a problem for would-be mothers in many countries who prefer to have their children later in life, often in their 30s and 40s. Current treatments for infertility include hormone therapy and in vitro fertilization (IVF), which primarily focus on treating hormonal imbalances and helping eggs mature or be fertilized. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-softening-aging-ovaries-fertility-women.html Thu, 09 Jul 2026 10:40:20 EDT news702806703 For most women past puberty, the uterine lining (endometrium) sheds from the body roughly every month if there is no fertilized egg present. Then, the uterus rebuilds itself to prepare for a potential pregnancy. While this process—the menstrual cycle—is widely known, how it works is not well understood. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-cellular-bandages-rebuild-uterine-lining.html Wed, 08 Jul 2026 18:20:06 EDT news702741473 Breast cancers diagnosed during the first three years after childbirth, particularly within the first year, may be biologically more aggressive than similar cancers in women who have never given birth, according to a new study led by investigators at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-young-women-breast-cancer-years.html Wed, 08 Jul 2026 15:40:04 EDT news702737916