Diagnosis

Maternal deaths rose from 209 to 254 between 2015–17 and 2021–23, despite fewer births, new data from the House of Commons library has revealed. The death rate increased from 9.16 to 12.67 per 100,000 births over the same period. A maternal death is defined as one occurring during pregnancy or within 42 days of the [...]

Around 5,700 breast cancer patients will now be eligible for ribociclib after NICE widened access to the combination therapy. Ribociclib will be available on the NHS for people with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative early breast cancer, even if their disease hasn’t spread to the lymph nodes. The drug is used with an aromatase inhibitor to help [...]

A grandfather’s contact with environmental chemicals could influence when his granddaughter starts her period, new research suggests. Scientists found that exposure to certain chemicals in both parents—particularly fathers—was linked to earlier puberty onset in daughters and granddaughters, with the average age falling by one year between generations. Researchers from Emory University’s Rollins School of Public [...]

Targeted radiotherapy is as effective as full-breast treatment for low-risk breast cancer but causes fewer side effects, a decade-long UK study has found. Partial-breast radiotherapy, which directs radiation only to the area around the tumour rather than the entire breast, reduced long-term complications while maintaining a 3 per cent recurrence rate. More than 9,000 women [...]

Language barriers are putting both patients and healthcare professionals at risk, a new survey has found. The revealed that with two-thirds (65 per cent) of healthcare workers in female care are worried about safeguarding when it comes to language barriers – while 37 per cent believe that non-English speaking women receive a poorer standard of [...]

Eight babies have been born in the UK using DNA from three people to help prevent severe inherited mitochondrial diseases. The procedure, known as mitochondrial donation treatment (MDT), involves combining genetic material from the mother and father with healthy mitochondria from a donor egg. This prevents faulty mitochondria—structures that generate energy in cells—from being passed [...]

Mounjaro may significantly reduce breast cancer tumour growth in obese patients, according to early-stage research in mice. The weight loss drug, which contains tirzepatide, showed what researchers described as a “beneficial impact” on cancer outcomes, though they stress more testing is needed. In a study involving 16 nine-week-old mice with breast cancer tumours who were [...]

An extra ultrasound scan for pregnant women who think their baby’s movements have reduced results in fewer complications in labour, according to an international study by experts in the Netherlands and Manchester. The findings - based on the scans of 1,684 women - could make the difficult task of determining whether labour should be induced [...]

Women’s health is being neglected by researchers, prompting calls for urgent action to address major gaps in care across both high- and low-income countries. Dr Anita Zaidi, president of the Gates Foundation’s gender equality division, said a lack of research is holding back progress in tackling common but often overlooked conditions. She pointed to innovations [...]

The UK has become the first country in the world to approve elinzanetant, a non-hormonal treatment for moderate to severe hot flushes linked to menopause. The once-daily oral capsule, branded Lynkuet, works by calming overactive brain signals that interfere with the body’s temperature control when oestrogen levels fall. Hot flushes and night sweats occur when [...]