News

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 [...]

The hormone oxytocin may protect women from mood problems linked to sleep disruption during the postnatal period and menopause, a new study suggests. Often called the “love hormone”, oxytocin appears to act as a natural buffer against mood disturbances caused by fragmented sleep and hormonal shifts during reproductive transitions. Researchers examined how sleep interruption and [...]

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 [...]

Ovum has launched clinical trials at two Australian hospitals to test whether its AI assistant can improve participation in women’s preventative healthcare. The six-month studies at the Royal Hospital for Women and St George Hospital are among the first in the country to assess AI as a preventative health tool designed specifically for women. The [...]

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 [...]

By Laurent van Lerberghe, Founder and Managing Partner, KELES In my years working in life sciences investment, I’ve encountered brilliant minds developing next-generation medical technologies, from AI-driven therapeutics to advanced diagnostics. We now see these going one step further, delivering even greater impact on women’s and family health by integrating design with cutting-edge, AI-enabled science [...]

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 [...]