Articles related to WOMEN'S HEALTH

Marlene P. Freeman, MD, is an expert in women’s reproductive mental health, the editor-in-chief of The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, and a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. She provides ideas that are clinically applicable in this 5 Minute Pearls video. As physicians, understanding the nuances of postpartum psychiatric disorders is crucial for effective patient care. Here are the key takeaways from Dr. Freeman’s insights:

Dr. Jyoti Mayadev, a professor of Radiation Medicine at University of California San Diego, discussed the treatment of patients with 1B3 cervical cancer at the Society of Gynecological Oncology’s Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer. The discussion centered around whether to treat patients with primary chemoradiation and brachytherapy or radical surgery. Dr. Mayadev recommends a multidisciplinary approach, but notes that level 1 evidence data from Landoni et al. in 1997 showed no difference in progression-free survivals or overall survivals between radiation therapy and radical hysterectomy in patients with bulky disease, 1B3, and no lymph node disease. Dr. Mayadev discusses the benefits of chemoradiation, including potential toxicity reduction if a patient needs adjuvant therapy after surgery. She also notes that with technologically advanced radiation and brachytherapy, long-term toxicities can be minimized, including genitourinary toxicities at 6-8%, vaginal toxicities at 5%, and fistula at less than 2%. Dr. Mayadev believes that adaptive radiation therapy may further decrease toxicities and increase cure rates for patients with 1B3 cervical cancer. There are ongoing trials for novel therapeutics and adaptive radiation therapy, such as the ARTIA Cervical Trial, which aims to decrease toxicities and collect patient reported outcomes.

Vabbing (look it up on TikTok) is the practice of putting one’s own vaginal fluid to the body in order to attract future mates or suitors. Researchers have yet to determine whether or not human pheromones exist or how they function. Vabbing can alter a user’s psychological state, improving their perceived attractiveness. According to experts, those willing to attempt vabbing may already be the type of people capable of meeting a relationship or sexual partner.

As published in Cochrane Reviews, cranberry products reduce the risk of repeat symptomatic UTIs in women by more than a quarter. In children and individuals susceptible to UTI following medical interventions, the risk reduction is greater than 50%.

The study followed nearly 143,000 women who underwent hysterectomy for a benign condition over a 20-year-period and compared outcomes between those who had bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (BSO) and those who didn’t. Younger (under age 45) women who had BSO had a higher 10-year cumulative risk of hospitalization for CVD. Women aged 45 to 54 with BSO had a higher 10-year risk for developing cancer. Based on the findings, the authors suggest a cautious approach to ovarian removal in postmenopausal women and recommend preserving ovaries in premenopausal women without a high risk for ovarian cancer.

Results from the RUBY trial of dostarlimab and the GY018/Keynote-068 of pembrolizumab were presented at the 2023 SGO Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer in March and were simultaneously published in The New England Journal of Medicine. The studies examined the efficacy and safety of the medications in all individuals and those with mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) illness. Each trial examined a separate PD-1 inhibitor, pembrolizumab or dostarlimab, in combination with chemotherapy in patients with advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer. In individuals with dMMR illness, both medications lowered the chance of disease progression or death by roughly 70%.