Empowered Health

Four days after publication, journalist Jennifer Block's op-ed “Doctors Are Not Gods” was retracted from Scientific American after severe backlash. The piece critiqued doctors who come across as all-knowing, specifically targeting influential ob-gyn Dr. Jen Gunter, who doesn't hold back when informing Twitter users about evidence-backed medical advice for women. Block argues that Gunter's dismissal of alternative treatments may invalidate women's lived experiences. The debate continued on Twitter where many, Gunter included, felt that it was a hit piece. Emily asks Block: why did you write this piece?

Each year, about 32 million American women travel solo, according to the Travel Industry Association. For female solo-travelers, safety is always top of mind. Erika Weisbrod, director of security solutions for International SOS, is an expert in travel risk management. Weisbrod breaks down the factors women should consider when traveling, what are the necessary precautions they should take and how to approach different situations overseas. Diana Edelman, who spent many years as a travel blogger living in various countries, discusses the pros and cons of the ex-pat lifestyle compared to vacationing. Edelman explains her realization that she was "running away" via travel instead of traveling to explore, which can happen when we feel feel depressed or anxious or lonely or stuck.

In October 2019, Jessica Nabongo became the first black woman to travel to every country in the world. Not only is NaBongo an expert traveler, but she has a wealth of knowledge on international tourism and development. Between her Master’s degree from the London School of Economics, being employed by the UN, starting two tourism-focused companies, and hitting all 195 counties in the world, Nabongo is going to give us the scoop on how to be the ultimate female jetsetter.

Did you know there is a connection between mental health and medical disorders like cardiovascular disease or Alzheimer's disease? Clinical neuroscientist Jill Goldstein, a professor of psychiatry and medicine at Harvard Medical School and the executive director of the Innovation Center on Sex Differences in Medicine, explains why women are disproportionately affected by these co-occurences. They have twice the risk of developing a co-occurrence of heart disease and depression than men do. Goldstein explains how links between the heart and brain can be traced back to prenatal development.

Progesterone, a hormone that helps prepare the uterus to receive a fertilized egg, plays a huge role in fertility. Pregnancy is made difficult by having low levels of the hormone progesterone, a fact many women are unaware of. After experiencing IVF for her first child, Amy Beckley, a scientific researcher with expertise in hormone signaling, wondered if there was an easier way to conceive. She began to track her progesterone at home, discovering she had low levels. After using supplements to level herself out, she delivered a second baby without IVF. Beckley wants to help other women trying to conceive – who may have low progesterone and not even know it – so she invented Proov, an at-home five-minute test to track progesterone.

Approximately 6.1 million women in America struggle to get pregnant every year, according to the CDC. This leads many couples to explore assisted reproductive technologies, most commonly in-vitro fertilization. In part I of our infertility series, we explain what women need to understand about infertility, what the process of IVF is like, and how much emotional and physical labor is involved. Reproductive endocrinologist Dr. Alan Penzias of Boston IVF discusses the most common infertility issues, what the typical treatment process involves and how significant egg quality and quantity are. Penzias also addresses how often men are the cause of infertility issues and how age plays a role in fertility.

More women are dying from childbirth today than when our moms had babies. Pregnancy and childbirth are complex and tech companies are hoping to help make these experiences safer. There has been little innovation in this space since the 1970s. The need for creative solutions to fix maternal problems is clear, so we wanted to know what the tech companies were doing to help make pregnancy and childbirth more safe. Mahmee is an app designed to improve postpartum care for both mom and baby, led by mother-daughter duo Melissa and Linda Hanna. Nuvo, which is awaiting FDA approval, developed a practitioner-facing device that monitors uterine activity and both maternal and fetal heart rate, which the doctor analyzes and communicates back to the patient. Bloomlife also monitors contractions, but reverses Nuvo’s structure by giving mothers their information first as a tool to bring into their doctor’s office.

The Pan-Mass Challenge's (PMC) annual bike ride fundraiser broke records with this year's $63 million donation to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. The PMC, led by Billy and Meredith Starr, has exclusively raised $717 million for Dana-Farber over its 40-year history. Dana-Farber president and chief executive Dr. Laurie Glimcher explains how the funds impact patient care and research. Over 150 Dana-Farber employees participated in the last ride, including Dr. Katherine Janeway, who was a cancer patient at the hospital herself.

What do you feed your children at snack time? Fruit snacks? Kid’s yogurt? Gatorade? So many of us don’t realize how much sugar is in these foods, which are often marketed as healthy options. With over two decades of experience as a pediatrician, Dr. Shakha Gillin noticed how many health issues could be solved by a better diet. She realized to fix kid’s eating habits, she needed to educate parents and the school system, the main sources teaching kids the right way to take care of themselves.

Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama are among states that have passed laws challenging Roe v. Wade's ruling. With the possibility of states overturning the Supreme Court's decision, we looked at how being denied an abortion affects women. The Turnaway Study, led by Diana Foster Greene, compares the outcomes of women who received an abortion with women who were denied an abortion. OB-GYNs Dr. Jenn Conti and Dr. Erica Cahill further explain the challenges of abortion providers face in the current climate.

When you need help who do you turn to? Instagram? Facebook? Online advice can come loaded with judgment and inaccuracies, but it is accessible and relatable and that makes it potent. We talk to Dr. Margaret Quinlan and Bethany Johnson, the authors of "You’re Doing it Wrong! Mothering, Media, and Medical Expertise", on how mothers face criticism for their choices, from the historical medical expertise of the nineteenth century to the newsfeeds of today.

Even with decades of experience as a cardiology nurse, Kristin O'Meara initially dismissed her own warning signs of a heart attack, relying on the fact she was healthy and active. Hours later, O'Meara would find herself in the emergency room recovering from a heart attack caused by a condition many otherwise healthy women suffer from: spontaneous coronary artery dissection, commonly referred to as SCAD. Many patients, paramedics, and even doctors are unaware of the condition, leaving them to associate heart attack symptoms with less dire ailments, like panic attacks. Cardiologists and SCAD experts Dr. Malissa Wood of Massachusetts General Hospital and Dr. Sharonne Hayes of the Mayo Clinic enlighten us on the rare but acute condition, which causes 40 percent of heart attacks in women under age 50. 

Back in '96, Shannon Miller led the Magnificent Seven to the gold at the Summer Olympics, earning the first-ever gymnastics win over Russia for the U.S. In 2011, Miller announced that she had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Following recovery, Miller went on to advocate for others with ovarian cancer. She discusses cancer's aftermath and how it caused her perspective to shift. Miller also talks on her experience growing up as an athlete in comparison to the pressure of youth sports today.

In 1989, a team of anthropologists studying Hadza hunter-gatherers in northern Tanzania noticed how hard one particular group was working: the grandmothers. “They were well into their sixties and their productivity was just as great as the women who are still in the childbearing years,” Kristen Hawkes, one of the anthropologists involved, tells Emily. Historically, women’s primary contribution to society was to give birth– implying post-menopausal women offered no value. We now have scientific evidence to prove that wrong.

From the late reproductive stage to the final menstrual period, the female body goes through a great deal of change. The spikes in estrogen during menopause cause an unpredictability that makes the transition particularly difficult. Unlike the pattern of stocking up on tampons and Advil every 28 days, women are thrown for a loop when their hormones become erratic. Dr. Jan Shifren and Dr. Nancy Woods go in-depth about memory function, feeling unstable, and what women need to be aware of during menopause.  

Hormone therapy has a complicated history. We’ve heard hormone therapy causes cancer and we’ve heard it is perfectly safe. This episode sets the record straight. We unpack the Women’s Health Initiative and why it has been so widely misunderstood, why poor methods led to misleading analysis and how the misinformation has resulted in widespread confusion. Emily asks the country’s top perimenopause and menopause experts.  Dr. Jan Shifren is the director of Massachusetts General Hospital’s Midlife Women's Health Center along with a professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Marcie Richardson, who was featured in last week’s episode, is an OB-GYN at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Newton-Wellesley Hospital with four decades of experience. We also hear about research done by a University of Guelph professor, Glen Pyle, that’s beginning to look at how starting hormone therapy during perimenopause may protect the heart.

As Nina Coslov reached her forties, she began questioning what her body was experiencing. Are these symptoms related to my hormones or something else? Could I be going through menopause this early? Her uneasiness led to research about the aging female body, thus learning about the late reproductive stage and perimenopause. Her newfound knowledge was a relief; she wasn’t unhappy or sick, she was just changing and it was normal. She wanted to provide other women with this reassurance, thus launching Women Living Better, an educational website on the early stages of menopause, with help from experts like Dr. Marcie Richardson and Nancy Woods.

Investigative reporter Nina Teicholz was a vegetarian for over twenty years before taking a closer look at her own diet, ultimately leading to her New York Times bestseller "The Big Fat Surprise." Teicholz's work has disrupted orthodox nutrition beliefs, challenged the dietary guidelines, and debunked the weak science around dietary fat. Nina and Emily discuss how we got red meat so wrong, along with what studies show concerning women on a low-fat diet.

Sports medicine physiatrist Dr. Amy West explains how female bodies, specifically female athlete bodies, differ from male bodies. Should you be working out on your period? What do hormones have to do with injury recovery? Do transgender athletes and those with DSD have an advantage over cisgender athletes? What is RED-S and why is it often seen amongst young female athletes? West also discusses the links between the CrossFit movement and the field of physiatry.

While all mothers are constantly working on raising the next generation, moms who end up re-entering the workforce face difficult challenges. From accepting that being a stay-at-home mom may not be your thing to being discriminated in the workplace for being a mother, your career path gets complicated if and when you decide to have children. We are joined by the creator and host of the Double Shift Podcast, Katherine Goldstein which shares stories of current mothers in the workforce, along with Kathleen McGinn of Harvard Business School, who researches how gender and class impact work, home life, and negotiations.