Top Women's Health Stories of 2016

This year has seen some healthcare highs, like a landmark study to help overweight lesbian and bisexual women, and some healthcare woes, like the marked shortage of injectable estrogen for transwomen. There have been some advances in the field of women and HIV, and hope on the horizon for mammograms to prevent heart disease, and to remove uterine fibroids without surgery. Some scientists have even claimed to have discovered the secret of the female orgasm!

Increases in Hepatitis C Threaten Young Women and Babies
The rate of women of childbearing age (WCBA) testing positive for hepatitis C increased by 22 percent across the United States between 2011 and 2014 (from 139 to 169 per 100,000 WCBA), according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Over the same time period, the national rate of infants born to women living with hepatitis C increased by 68 percent (from 0.19 percent to 0.32 percent).
Click here.

Shortage of Estrogen Drugs in U.S. Worries Trans Women
A shortage of the two most popular estrogen hormone injections -- Delestrogen and its generic counterpart, Estradiol Valerate -- had U.S. transgender women in a panic, with no guarantee of when the supplies will return. "All the girls are freaking out," said performer Charlene Incarnate, a patient at Callen-Lorde in New York City. Click here.

Scientists Claim to Have Solved the Mystery of the Female Orgasm
Scientists are claiming they have solved the mystery of the female orgasm. They say it all comes down to ovulation. The UK Telegraph reports that a study on mammal reproduction found that orgasms help apes ovulate. But because it plays no part in human's reproduction, they have dubbed it a "redundant evolutionary afterthought." I guess that depends on who's asking... Click here.

Landmark Study Helps Overweight Lesbian and Bisexual Women Adopt Healthier Habits
Adult lesbian and bisexual women are more likely to be obese than their heterosexual counterparts, but national weight-and-fitness interventions tailored to their needs are lacking. To address this disparity, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women's Health provided funding for the initiative "Healthy Weight in Lesbian and Bisexual Women: Striving for a Healthy Community" (HWLB), which involved culturally tailored interventions of 12-16 weeks in ten cities across the United States. "The main goal of this study was to create safe and supportive environments across the country where lesbian and bisexual women could solely focus on their health," said Jane McElroy, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine�at the University of Missouri School of Medicine. "We are hopeful that these results will motivate other communities to develop tailored interventions to support lesbian and bisexual women achieving the active healthy lives they desire." Click here.

Look at Your Period in a New Way With Lunette Menstrual Cup
If you're ready to look at your period -- and saving the environment -- in a whole new way, you may be ready to take a closer look at Lunette Menstrual Cups. The average woman uses 17,000 tampons or pads in her lifetime; the U.S. feminine protection market is a $3B annual industry. Maybe it's time to take yourself out of the equation. Made of soft-grade silicon, Lunette is a healthy choice for your body, as it's hygienic against yeast, bacteria or odor. And unlike tampons, there's no worrying about potential toxins like chlorine bleach, phthalates, dioxin, BPA, BPS, or DEHP, or Toxic Shock Syndrome. Click here.

Fibroid Education Center Offers Women With Uterine Fibroids Non-Surgical Option
In collaboration with Dr. Suzanne LeBlang, an industry-leading physician in treating uterine fibroids, the newly-created Fibroid Education Center offers women suffering from uterine fibroids information to take charge of finding solutions, with special emphasis on the non-surgical Curawave (MRgFUS) procedure. The Curawave (MRgFUS) procedure uses MRI-guided focused ultrasound beams to kill fibroid tissue without surgery. Women are typically back to normal activity the next day. Many go to dinner to celebrate immediately after their procedure. In October of 2015, the FDA approved Curawave (MRgFUS) as a fertility-preserving treatment for uterine fibroids. Currently, most other uterine fibroid treatments are contraindicated for fertility preservation or remove fertility entirely. Click here.

Routine Mammograms Could Also Prevent Heart Disease
There's another great reason for women to get annual mammograms. A new study reveals that it could also prevent a bigger killer: heart disease. That's because mammograms can uncover calcium deposits in breast arteries, which could be similar to deposits in arteries leading to the heart. According to Dr. Larry Altshuler, M.D., this could be a game-changer when it comes to women's health.

"Many women, especially younger women, are unaware of their heart health," said Dr. Altshuler, the Director of Oncology Intake at Cancer Treatment Centers of America. "But if a mammogram can be a two-tier detector, more women could take control of their health and prevent heart attacks or strokes." Click here.

16th Annual Legacy Grace Project Conference for Women with HIV/AIDS
From May 6-8, Legacy Counseling Center holds the largest conference for women living with HIV/AIDS in the nation. This year the Grace Project National Conference for Women Living with HIV/AIDS will host over 200 HIV-positive women from North Texas and nationwide. Celebrating the conference's 16th year, the three-day conference seeks to encourage hope and hold families together, while also increasing awareness about the spread of HIV in our communities, through educational seminars on issues ranging from how to disclose your status to proper nutrition and medication. Click here.

Whoopi Weed? Comedian Launches Line of Cannabis for Cramps
Comedian Whoopi Goldberg has announced she will join the long list of celebrity entrepreneurs by founding her own line of marijuana products specifically made for relieving painful period cramps. Yes, you read that right. Pot for your puss. CNET.com reports that Goldberg and her partner, cannabis entrepreneur Maya Elisabeth, aim to get women through those heavy flow days with their top-shelf, medical-grade marijuana.

"This was all inspired by my own experience from a lifetime of difficult periods and the fact that cannabis was literally the only thing that gave me relief," Goldberg said in a statement. "Every month women experience pain and discomfort associated with their period. Cannabis is a wonderful remedy, and... can provide the type of relief many women need." Click here.

March 10 Is National Women & Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
On March 10, National Women & Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, amfAR highlighted the challenges women continue to face as the HIV/AIDS epidemic has more than tripled in this population over the last three decades. Across the world and in America, HIV is still impacting this demographic. Women now represent one in five of the new HIV diagnoses in America, with 64 percent of these women being African American.

"Women and girls constitute half of people living with HIV globally, and one in four HIV-positive Americans," said Jennifer Sherwood, amfAR's Policy Expert on HIV Among Women. "Our major push is to reach women and girls in the U.S., to improve their uptake of knowledge, testing, and engagement in care. In the U.S., while we have around 88 percent of women getting tested, we still have a gap."

This gap is that, even after testing positive for HIV, only 41 percent of these women are prescribed ARTs, and only 32 percent are virally suppressed. Sherwood said that a lot of this has to do with barriers to accessing health care. Click here.

Protect Yourself from HPV in Cervical Health Awareness Month �
January is Cervical Health Awareness Month, and a time to talk about how women can protect themselves from Human Papillomavirus (HPV), a major cause of cervical cancer.�Dr. Susan Maples, one of the top eight innovators in U.S. Dentistry who runs a total health practice, said there is a lot of information most people don't know about HPV but should.
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"It's pretty common knowledge that HPV causes cervical cancer, but HPV is an even bigger threat for oral cancer," said Maples.�"Among newly diagnosed cases of oral cancer, the fastest-growing segment is people under 40 infected with HPV type-16." Click here.

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"Reimagining Women's Cancers: The Power of Celebrity and Public Awareness"
Cancer doesn't have to be a death sentence. The get-out-of-cancer-free card? Prevention through information. The recent World Cancer Report from the World Health Organization states that about half of all cancers are preventable and can be avoided if current medical knowledge is better delivered. From People magazine, with a readership of 43 million to Internet sites like JustJared.com with over 80 million monthly views, celebrity information not only sells, it has the ability to educate about important issues -- including cancer. Click here.

Insulin Counting: A New Dietary System for Women's Health
Are you living with distressing symptoms of irregular menstrual cycles, weight gain, infertility, acne, hair loss or increased facial hair growth? If you are, high insulin levels might be to blame. We all have heard about insulin and its role in diabetes, but what we don't hear often is how it can affect female hormones. A new, easy-to-follow dietary method may help manage blood insulin levels, and improve hormonal health for the millions of women suffering from insulin-induced symptoms. Click here.

Natural Cycles First Health App For Women To Be Regulated As A Medical Device
Natural Cycles, the fertility app that has been shown in recent clinical studies to be as effective as the contraceptive pill at preventing pregnancies, has become the first health app for women to be regulated as a medical device.

"Regulation is a good thing in the app and healthcare technology space," said Dr. Raoul Scherwitzl, co-founder and chief executive, of Natural Cycles. "Natural Cycles is backed up by well-researched, large-scale clinical studies and, being CE-marked and ISO certified, means that the quality of our product and the safety of our users is at the heart of every decision we make. We know we are dealing with women's lives here and we take that very seriously." Click here.

Groundbreaking Report IDs Unique Needs of Women Living With HIV
"What would improve your ability to stay in care?"�That is the fundamental question 14 researchers, all women living with HIV, asked 180 participants from seven different geographic areas in a community-based participatory�research project spearheaded by Positive Women's Network -- USA (PWN-USA), a national membership body of women with HIV. Participants were then asked about which specific services they needed, which services they currently had access to, and how well those services were meeting their needs. Click here.

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Philly FIGHT Celebrates Natl. Women & Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
Philadelphia FIGHT acknowledged National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day with a community health fair on Saturday, March 5. It is an annual observance to recognize the impact of HIV on women and girls. According to the Centers for Disease Control, women make up 20 percent of the new HIV infections in the United States. An estimated 88 percent of women who are living with HIV are diagnosed, but only 32 percent have the virus under control. Click here.

More Research Needed on PrEP Use in Transgender Women
A policy brief released in December by the National Center for Innovation in HIV Care -- a program of The Fenway Institute, AIDS United, and ARCW -- examined questions that have been raised about the interaction between feminizing hormones used by transgender women, and the medication currently approved for use as pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention (PrEP). It called on the scientific community to conduct more research on PrEP with transgender women, and urges transgender women who are HIV-negative to discuss PrEP with their doctors as a potential option for helping them stay HIV-negative.�Click here.

NIAID Funds Further Study of Dapivirine Vaginal Ring for HIV Prevention
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced that it would move forward with an open-label extension study of an HIV prevention tool for women: a silicone ring that continuously releases the experimental antiretroviral drug dapivirine in the vagina. The new study builds on recently announced findings from the ASPIRE trial, which found that the dapivirine ring safely provided a modest level of protection against HIV infection in sub-Saharan African women, reducing the risk of HIV infection by 27 percent in the study population overall and by 61 percent among women ages 25 years and older, but provided no statistically significant protection in women younger than 25 years. Click here.

New Microbicide Gel Could Protect Against HIV, HPV and Herpes
Population Council researchers presented results from the first in human trial of a new and promising microbicide gel, PC-1005, at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) and at the 6th International Workshop on HIV and Women in Boston, MA. PC-1005 gel, which is also known as MZC, was designed to be used both vaginally and rectally to protect women and men against HIV, herpes simplex virus (HSV), and human papillomavirus (HPV).�PC-1005 contains the highly potent antiretroviral MIV-150, along with zinc acetate dihydrate and carrageenan.

"PC-1005 is the only product designed for vaginal and rectal use targeting HIV, HSV, and HPV to have undergone a Phase I study to date," said Population Council researcher Barbara Friedland.�"We are greatly encouraged by the results of this first vaginal study, which support further study of this important new prevention tool." Click here.

4th Annual 'Laugh for the Cure' Stars Julie Goldman
On August 6, Twin Peaks presented their 4th "Laugh for the Cure" starring comedian Julie Goldman and hosted by Lady Marisa. Money raised goes to breast cancer screenings and education for the community.

"It's a comedy show fundraiser with a comedian who flies in from LA, and superstar drag queen Lady Marisa as the emcee," said organizer Betty Moore, a New Jersey-based breast cancer/wellness nurse practitioner who has worked in oncology for 32 years. "My wife and I work with the non-profit Twin Peaks and we donate our time to raise money for the community to cover the expense of breast imaging. Over the past two years, we've contributed to helping seven women find early stage breast cancer."
Click here.