Women's Health Updates — July 2022

Learn about recent developments in women's health as well as SWHR's activities that promote the study of sex and gender influences on health and serve our mission to improve women's health through science, policy, and education.
Did someone forward you this email? Looking for more news on women's health research? 
Follow @SWHR_OFFICIAL on Instagram

Have you followed SWHR on our new Instagram channel? Follow @swhr_official to stay up to date on SWHR’s latest tools and resources, patient story insights, and developments in women's health.

You can also follow SWHR on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Youtube.
SWHR ANNUAL REPORT
SWHR’s mission is to drive research on biological sex differences in disease and improve women’s health through science, policy, and education. Check out the 2021 Annual Report to see how SWHR delivered on this mission last year.
JULY AWARENESS TOPICS
FIBROID AWARENESS MONTH
Fibroid Awareness Month in July aims to raise awareness about uterine fibroids, a gynecological condition that affects more than 26 million women in the United States. Learn about fibroid symptoms, treatment options, and wellness routines in SWHR's patient toolkit and check out other resources on fibroids at swhr.org. See how you can support fibroids care access on social media at #SWHRtalksFibroids and #FibroidAwarenessMonth!
Share it out!
I’m joining @SWHR this month to raise awareness about the need for increased research funding for uterine fibroids. #FibroidAwarenessMonth
JUVENILE ARTHRITIS AWARENESS MONTH
July is also Juvenile Arthritis Awareness Month, which seeks to improve knowledge and awareness about this inflammatory disease that affects more than 50,000 children in the United States. Read about Elizabeth Medeiros, who didn't let a juvenile arthritis diagnosis stop her success. Elizabeth is currently navigating life with psoriatic arthritis (PsA).
NATIONAL MINORITY MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS MONTH
National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month explores the unique mental health challenges that U.S. racial and ethnic minority communities face. Learn more about this awareness cause from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health and about mental health on the SWHR blog.
PARENTS DAY
July 24, 2022 is Parents Day. For those considering parenthood, information about the risk of passing on certain conditions to your child can help you better prepare for the journey. Understand your options and whether prenatal genetic screening may be appropriate for you with the Genetic Screening and Maternal Health Care Poster. Remember, screenings are not diagnostic tests and therefore do not provide definitive diagnoses; they only provide information about the risk for certain genetic conditions.
What are you honoring this month? Share your women's health story with SWHR. SWHR is seeking stories about diagnoses, seeking care, and living with narcolepsy, lupus, psoriatic arthritis, menopause, Alzheimer’s disease, managing your bone health, undergoing prenatal screening, or other women's health conditions. Visit swhr.org/shareyourstory or click the link below to learn more.
LATEST SWHR RESOURCES
An estimated 1.3 million women enter the menopause transition each year in the United States, but many still face menopause-related stigma. SWHR's new Menopause Preparedness Toolkit: A Woman’s Empowerment Guide was created to inspire women to embrace their midlife years.

Explore components of the toolkit and educate participants on the stages, signs, and treatments for menopause this July. Register for Menopause Mindfulness: A Personal Toolkit for Menopause Preparedness, on Thursday, July 14 at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Join the discussion on social media and share your own menopause wellness tips by using #SWHRtalksMenopause.

What is SWHR reading? Women are at a greater risk for decreased bone density and fracture — increasing their osteoporosis risk — when transitioning into menopause. HealthyWomen's Osteoporosis Hub includes stories and resources about preventing and living well with osteoporosis.
Women bear the brunt of the burden of Alzheimer's disease in the United States, outnumbering men as both Alzheimer's patients and as caregivers. How can we improve Alzheimer’s disease outcomes for women?

Explore SWHR's fact sheet to learn about disease prevalence, caregiving burden, and policy solutions: Breaking Down the Burden of Alzheimer’s Disease for Women: A Call to Action.
Read more about women living with Alzheimer's:

Join the discussion on social media at #SWHRtalksAlzheimers and stay tuned for additional Alzheimer's resources and events from SWHR this summer.
Understanding your hormones and fertility options is important to supporting your fuller health picture, even if you are not planning to get pregnant soon.

In Value of Diagnostics within Women’s Health: How Hormones Can Tell a Fertility Story, experts shared tips for navigating the fertility conversation with providers. Thank you to event panelists, Hugh S. Taylor, MD, (Yale School of Medicine) and Regina Townsend (The Broken Brown Egg). Watch the full recording online now.
Learn more about resources to address infertility in SWHR's Women’s Resource Guide to Fertility Health Care.

Share your own fertility stories and questions on social media using #SWHRtalksFertility.

What is SWHR reading? "Softening tough tissue in aging ovaries may help fight infertility" by Science explored a study that showed softening the ovaries and addressing fibrosis can restore fertility in animals, findings which could potentially be applicable to humans.
Of the estimated 1.5 million Americans who have some form of lupus, 90% are women between the ages of 15 and 44. Lupus, like many autoimmune and immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, is more common in women.

During Closing the Loop for Lupus in Women’s Health Care, experts discussed various treatment approaches for lupus, improving education and advocacy, and addressing workplace challenges for both patients and employers. Thank you to the panelists, Irene Blanco, MD, MS (Albert Einstein College of Medicine), Ayanna C. Dookie (lupus patient and advocate, HydroxychloroQUEENZ podcast host), and Matt Harman, PharmD, MPH (Employers Health Coalition).

Watch the full recording online now and learn more on social media by using #SWHRtalksLupus.
UPCOMING EVENTS

Prevent Blindness will host the 11th annual Focus on Eye Health National Summit on July 13-14, as a virtual interactive event. Register today.

Learn about women's eye health in SWHR's toolkit: A Guide to Women’s Eye Health

Register to join us on Thursday, July 14, 2022, 1:00 p.m. ET to hear about menopause stages and treatment options. Follow along on social media at #SWHRtalksMenopause.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias is a growing crisis as the number of Americans living with AD increases — and its burden continues to fall more heavily on women. Register to join us on Tuesday, July 26, 2022, 1:00 p.m. ET. Follow along on social media at #SWHRtalksAlzheimers.

In this "Value of Diagnostics within Women’s Health" public forum, ovarian cancer experts will present on screening and care options. Register to join us on Wednesday, September 7, 2022, 12:00 p.m. ET. Follow along on social media at #SWHRtalksCancer.

Miles for Migraine is on a mission to improve the lives of people with migraine and other headache disorders, and their families, by raising public awareness about the disease and helping to find a cure. Miles for Migraine produces fun, virtual and in-person walk/run/relax events in 24 cities across the U.S., to raise money for migraine disease research. Learn more and register here.

Learn how to talk to your care provider about migraine symptoms and manage daily tasks while living with migraine in this pair of SWHR toolkits: A Guide to Your Migraine Care and Living Well with Migraine.
Check out SWHR's event calendar for more SWHR and other women's health events.
POLICY
Catch up on SWHR's latest policy work:

What is SWHR reading? "Needed: a clearer explanation of why diversity in clinical trials is important" in STAT calls for greater diversity in clinical trial participant populations. Learn more about the need to include women in clinical trials by reading about Equal Research Day this June.

See more of SWHR's recent policy work online here.
FROM THE BLOG

SWHR celebrate the inaugural #EqualResearchDay on June 10 to bring attention to the gender health gap. Check out the blog to learn more about the day and the need to study sex differences.

Read how SWHR recognized Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month in June and how advances in Alzheimer's disease funding and research could improve women's health outcomes.
Read all of SWHR's most recent blogs online here.

What's new in Biology of Sex Differences? Read about links between menstrual cycles and osteoarthritis and sex differences in zebrafish brains. Find more at @BiologySexDiff.

What is SWHR reading? "AMA: Climate change is a public health crisis" by Healio explains why the American Medical Association (AMA) has declared climate change as a public health crisis threatening the well-being of all communities.

What is SWHR reading? "The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race" is a 2021 book by Walter Isaacson about the history of Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna and her work in CRISPR gene editing.

Do you have a women's health story to share with SWHR? SWHR is asking women to share their personal health journeys, or stories of those who serve as caregiver. Your story can help educate and inform other women who may be going through a similar experience. Visit swhr.org/shareyourstory to learn more.
Did someone forward you this email? Looking for more news on women's health research?