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5 New Studies That Could Transform Women's Health In The Years Ahead

Emma Loewe
Author:
March 08, 2024
Emma Loewe
mbg Sustainability + Health Director
By Emma Loewe
mbg Sustainability + Health Director
Emma Loewe is the Senior Sustainability Editor at mindbodygreen and the author of "Return to Nature: The New Science of How Natural Landscapes Restore Us."
Image by Susana Ramírez / Stocksy
March 08, 2024
We carefully vet all products and services featured on mindbodygreen using our commerce guidelines. Our selections are never influenced by the commissions earned from our links.

So much of what we're taught about our health—from what constitutes a "normal" BMI to what a heart attack feels like—comes from research on men. Women have historically been left out of medical studies for reasons that range from the frustrating to downright infuriating. And as we've previously reported, this gender gap has serious implications for women's physical and mental health.

In her new book, All in Her Head: The Truth and Lies Early Medicine Taught Us About Women's Bodies and Why It Matters Today, breast cancer oncologist Elizabeth Comen, M.D., asks, "What would medicine look like if all the female energy that was squeezed out and sidelined from it over the course of two millennia was allowed back in?" Well, thankfully, we're starting to see. Thanks to a rise in more targeted women's health research, the nuances of the female body are finally coming to the fore of Pubmed and ScienceDirect pages everywhere.

In honor of International Women's Day, we're highlighting a few impactful examples of female-focused research from the last few months, complete with insights from our science and health team. Here's to getting one step closer to discovering why women experience increased rates of autoimmune disorders, sleep disturbances, and more—and how we can change this in the future.

Editor's note

When we refer to women in this article, we refer to those assigned female at birth (AFAB). The health-related correlations are exclusive to hormonal and chromosomal differences, not gender identity or expression.
1.

PMS symptoms are not benign. They're linked to early menopause

We're often told that PMS symptoms just "come with the territory" of having a period. But a recently published study in JAMA Network shows they can have reverberating consequences throughout a woman's lifetime. The study found that women with symptoms of premenstrual disorders tend to reach menopause about a year earlier than those who don't. Their menopause symptoms—from hot flashes to changes in mood—also tend to be more severe.

As mindbodygreen's assistant health editor Hannah Frye reports, "While researchers don't have an explanation for the correlation just yet, it could have something to do with preexisting hormone levels or imbalances in women, given that PMS is believed to be caused by a dramatic drop in estrogen and progesterone... [It's] critical for health care providers to take PMS symptoms seriously and consider working toward hormonal balance to address the root cause rather than just alleviating symptoms for the time being." (Read the research here1.)

Study insights

"This is the first prospective cohort study demonstrating that clinically significant premenstrual disorders (PMDs) are associated with an increased risk of early menopause and moderate or severe menopause-related vasomotor symptoms (VMS). The association remained even when accounting for confounders. This study represents important findings for advancing not only knowledge of the longer-term impact of PMDs but also the identification of women who are at higher risk of early menopause, which can have ramifications for key health areas later in life."
—Emma Engler, mindbodygreen's nutrition research scientist
2.

Eight in 10 autoimmune disease cases are in women — and we're getting closer to understanding why

Autoimmune diseases like Type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, thyroid disease, and multiple sclerosis disproportionately affect women, and nearly eight in 10 cases2 are in those assigned female at birth. Last month, researchers at Stanford School of Medicine got closer to untangling why—and it comes down to the XX chromosome.

Since women have two X chromosomes, as our bodies develop, we essentially need to "shut down" the cellular activity of one X chromosome to prevent overproducing certain proteins. Researchers found that RNA that regulates this process may be an important driver of sex-biased autoimmunity. (It's worth noting that we are just learning this now because, for several decades, researchers used a male cell line as the standard of reference in autoimmune susceptibility.) This is a potentially groundbreaking finding, as it could improve our ability to predict autoimmune disorders—currently affecting 19 to 40 million women in America—before they occur. (Read the research here3.)

Study insights

"This finding could go on to shape the way we approach autoimmune disease prevention in women. Instead of placing unrealistic expectations on women to achieve the impossible in today's fast-paced world (live a completely stress-free life, consume only whole and natural foods, get a full night's rest every night), it's crucial to acknowledge that certain factors contributing to autoimmunity—like our chromosomes—are beyond our control." 
—Hannah Frye, mindbodygreen's assistant beauty & health editor
3.

We desperately need more sports & exercise focused on (and conducted by) women

Women are severely underrepresented in sports and exercise research, and most of the studies that do focus on women are senior authored by men. (Sigh.) A new analysis, "Invisible Sportswomen 2.0," digs into the urgent need for more sports research by women for women. It reiterated that between 2014 and 2020, as little as 6% of sports and exercise science research in the most popular journals was conducted exclusively in female participants. It also found the women's sports studies that did have women authors tended to be of higher quality across all journals. (Read the paper here.)

4.

These two vitamin deficiencies are wrecking women's sleep

Women are more likely to suffer from sleep issues like insomnia4 than men, and new research suggests that vitamin deficiencies could be partially to blame. Research in nearly 10,000 adult women (20-49 years old) found that 20% of those surveyed had iron deficiency or iron deficiency anemia, aka low iron and hemoglobin levels. (The blood loss during menstruation makes iron deficiency way more common in women.) Women who had these deficiencies were nearly twice as likely to have poor sleep quality as those who did not. Those who had insufficient or deficient vitamin D levels were also 22-26% more likely to sleep less.

This research on the unseen factors affecting sleep suggests that something as simple as upping vitamin D and iron intake could help premenopausal women achieve more restorative rest. (Read the research here5.)

Study insights

"It's known that women have more problems sleeping than men (think of women who are pregnant taking frequent trips to the bathroom or women in perimenopause who suddenly break out sweating). Oftentimes, we first look to the physical factors affecting our sleep. But this study really shows the importance of two major, unseen factors, vitamin D and iron—both of which often aren't measured in standard bloodwork. If you're having difficulties falling asleep or staying asleep and you can't pinpoint why, it's time to talk with your doctor about looking at your vitamin D and ferritin levels."—Molly Knudsen, M.S., RDN, mindbodygreen's supplements editor
5.

Bundle up: Cold plunging might have bonus benefits for pre- and post-menopausal women

When over 1,000 women in the UK filled out a survey on the benefits of their cold-water swimming routines, the majority of them (63.3%) reported that they swam specifically to relieve period or menopause symptoms. Menopausal women noted improvements in anxiety (46.9%), mood swings (34.5%), low mood (31.1%), and hot flashes (30.3%) after a chilly dip, while premenopausal women said swimming reduced menstrual symptoms like anxiety (46.7%), mood swings (37.7%), and irritability (37.6%). Cold plunging often has a macho biohacking connotation, but this research shows the unique ways women can benefit from braving freezing temps, too, both mentally and physically. (Read the research here6.)

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