Unwell Women – by Dr. Elinor Cleghorn

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For a demographic that makes up a little over half of the world’s population, women are paradoxically marginalized in healthcare. And in other ways too, but this book is about health.

Dr. Cleghorn had to fight for seven (!) years to get her own lupus condition recognized as such, and continues to have to fight for it to be taken seriously on an ongoing basis. And yet, 95% of the book is not about her and her experiences, but rather, the bigger picture.

The book is divided into sections, by period in history. From Hippocrates to the modern day, Dr. Cleghorn gives us a well-researched, incredibly well-referenced overview of the marginalization of women’s health. Far from being a dry history book in the early parts though, it’s fascinating and engaging throughout.

The modern day sections are part shining a light into dark areas, part practical information-and-advice “did you know this happens, and you can do this about it”, and part emphatic call-to-action to demand better.

Bottom line: this book is in this reviewer’s “top 5 books read this year”, and we highly recommend it to you.

Click here to check out Unwell Women, and don’t settle!

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  • Can You Step Backwards Without Your Foot Or Torso Turning Out?

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    Walking backwards is often overlooked, but research shows it can enhance forward walking, especially in stroke patients; it has other benefits for everyone else, too. The physiotherapists at Fitness4Life Physical Therapy explain:

    …and one step back

    How it works: walking backwards heightens proprioception and stimulates muscles, improving balance and posture. Additionally, our daily lives tend to involve forward-leaning postures, causing upper back bending, and walking backwards helps counterbalance this.

    Extra benefits: training to walk backwards can reduce the risk of falls, as stepping back is a common movement that is often untrained.

    Exercise: try doing backwards lunges, to assess your skill and balance while moving backward. If foot rotation or torso rotation occurs during the exercise, then there’s room for improvement. Correcting these movements is then simply a matter of practicing backward lunges without turning.

    10almonds tip: any exercise is only as good as your will to actually do it. For this reason, dancing is a great exercise in this case, as almost all forms of dance involve stepping backwards (in order to have steps without travelling somewhere, forwards steps are usually balanced with backwards ones)

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  • Cacao vs Carob – Which is Healthier?

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    Our Verdict

    When comparing cacao to carob, we picked the cacao.

    Why?

    It’s close, and may depend a little on your priorities!

    In terms of macros, the cacao has more protein and fat, while the carob has more carbohydrates, mostly sugar. Since people will not generally eat this by the spoonful, and will instead either make drinks or cook with it, we can’t speak for the glycemic index or general health impact of the sugars. As for the fats, on the one hand the cacao does contain saturated fat; on the other, this merely means that different saturated fat will usually be added to the carob if making something with it. Still, slight win for the carob on the fat front. Protein, of course, is entirely in cacao’s favor.

    In the category of vitamins and minerals, they’re about equal on vitamins, while cacao wins easily on the mineral front, boasting more copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, and phosphorus.

    While both have a generous antioxidant content, this one’s another win for cacao, with about 3x the active polyphenols and flavonoids.

    In short: both are good, consumed in moderation and before adding unhealthy extra ingredients—but we say cacao comes out the winner.

    If you’re looking specifically for the above-depicted products, by the way, here they are:

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  • Kale vs Watercress – Which is Healthier?

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    Our Verdict

    When comparing kale to watercress, we picked the kale.

    Why?

    It was very close! If ever we’ve been tempted to call something a tie, this has been the closest so far.

    Their macros are close; watercress has a tiny amount more protein and slightly lower carbs, but these numbers are tiny, so it’s not really a factor. Nevertheless, on macros alone we’d call this a slight nominal win for watercress.

    In terms of vitamins, they’re even. Watercress has higher vitamin E and choline (sometimes considered a vitamin), as well as being higher in some B vitamins. Kale has higher vitamins A and K, as well as being higher in some other B vitamins.

    In the category of minerals, watercress has higher calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium, while kale has higher copper, iron, manganese, and zinc. The margins are slightly wider for kale’s more plentiful minerals though, so we’ll call this section a marginal win for kale.

    When it comes to polyphenols, kale takes and maintains the lead here, with around 2x the quercetin and 27x the kaempferol. Watercress does have some lignans that kale doesn’t, but ultimately, kale’s strong flavonoid content keeps it in the lead.

    So of course: enjoy both if both are available! But if we must pick one, it’s kale.

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  • Soap vs Sanitizer – Which is Healthier?

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Our Verdict

    When comparing soap to sanitizer, we picked the soap.

    Why?

    Both are good at killing bacteria / inactivating viruses, but there are several things that set them apart:

    • Soap doesn’t just kill them; it slides them off and away down the drain. That means that any it failed to kill are also off and down the drain, not still on your hands. This is assuming good handwashing technique, of course!
    • Sanitizer gel kills them, but can take up to 4 minutes of contact to do so. Given that people find 20 seconds of handwashing laborious, 240 seconds of sanitizer gel use seems too much to hope for.

    Both can be dehydrating for the hands; both can have ingredients added to try to mitigate that.

    We recommend a good (separate) moisturizer in either case, but the point is, the dehydration factor doesn’t swing it far either way.

    So, we’ll go with the one that gets rid of the germs the most quickly: the soap

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  • What you need to know about menopause

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Menopause describes the time when a person with ovaries has gone one full year without a menstrual period. Reaching this phase is a natural aging process that marks the end of reproductive years.

    Read on to learn more about the causes, stages, signs, and management of menopause.

    What causes menopause?

    As you age, your ovaries begin making less estrogen and progesterone—two of the hormones involved in menstruation—and your fertility declines, causing menopause.

    Most people begin perimenopause, the transitional time that ends in menopause, in their late 40s, but it can start earlier. On average, people in the U.S. experience menopause in their early 50s.

    Your body may reach early menopause for a variety of reasons, including having an oophorectomy, a surgery that removes the ovaries. In this case, the hormonal changes happen abruptly rather than gradually.

    Chemotherapy and radiation therapy for cancer patients may also induce menopause, as these treatments may impact ovary function.

    What are the stages of menopause?

    There are three stages:

    • Perimenopause typically occurs eight to 10 years before menopause happens. During this stage, estrogen production begins to decline and ovaries release eggs less frequently.
    • Menopause marks the point when you have gone 12 consecutive months without a menstrual period. This means the ovaries have stopped releasing eggs and producing estrogen.
    • Postmenopause describes the time after menopause. Once your body reaches this phase, it remains there for the rest of your life.

    How do the stages of menopause affect fertility?

    Your ovaries still produce eggs during perimenopause, so it is still possible to get pregnant during that stage. If you do not wish to become pregnant, continue using your preferred form of birth control throughout perimenopause.

    Once you’ve reached menopause, you can no longer get pregnant naturally. People who would like to become pregnant after that may pursue in vitro fertilization (IVF) using eggs that were frozen earlier in life or donor eggs.

    What are the signs of menopause?

    Hormonal shifts result in a number of bodily changes. Signs you are approaching menopause may include:

    • Hot flashes (a sudden feeling of warmth).
    • Irregular menstrual periods, or unusually heavy or light menstrual periods.
    • Night sweats and/or cold flashes.
    • Insomnia.
    • Slowed metabolism.
    • Irritability, mood swings, and depression.
    • Vaginal dryness.
    • Changes in libido.
    • Dry skin, eyes, and/or mouth.
    • Worsening of premenstrual syndrome (PMS).
    • Urinary urgency (a sudden need to urinate).
    • Brain fog.

    How can I manage the effects of menopause?

    You may not need any treatment to manage the effects of menopause. However, if the effects are disrupting your life, your doctor may prescribe hormone therapy.

    If you have had a hysterectomy, your doctor may prescribe estrogen therapy (ET), which may be administered via a pill, patch, cream, spray, or vaginal ring. If you still have a uterus, your doctor may prescribe estrogen progesterone/progestin hormone therapy (EPT), which is sometimes called “combination therapy.”

    Both of these therapies work by replacing the hormones your body has stopped making, which can reduce the physical and mental effects of menopause.

    Other treatment options may include antidepressants, which can help manage mood swings and hot flashes; prescription creams to alleviate vaginal dryness; or gabapentin, an anti-seizure medication that has been shown to reduce hot flashes.

    Lifestyle changes may help alleviate the effects on their own or in combination with prescription medication. Those changes include:

    • Incorporating movement into your daily life.
    • Limiting caffeine and alcohol.
    • Quitting smoking.
    • Maintaining a regular sleep schedule.
    • Practicing relaxation techniques, such as meditation.
    • Consuming foods rich in plant estrogens, such as grains, beans, fruits, vegetables, and seeds.
    • Seeking support from a therapist and from loved ones.

    What health risks are associated with menopause?

    Having lower levels of estrogen may put you at greater risk of certain health complications, including osteoporosis and coronary artery disease.

    Osteoporosis occurs when bones lose their density, increasing the risk of fractures. A 2022 study found that the prevalence of osteoporotic fractures in postmenopausal women was 82.2 percent.

    Coronary artery disease occurs when the arteries that send blood to your heart become narrow or blocked with fatty plaque.

    Estrogen therapy can reduce your risk of osteoporosis and coronary artery disease by preserving bone mass and maintaining cardiovascular function.

    For more information, talk to your health care provider.

    This article first appeared on Public Good News and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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  • How Primary Care Is Being Disrupted: A Video Primer

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    How patients are seeing their doctor is changing, and that could shape access to and quality of care for decades to come.

    More than 100 million Americans don’t have regular access to primary care, a number that has nearly doubled since 2014. Yet demand for primary care is up, spurred partly by record enrollment in Affordable Care Act plans. Under pressure from increased demand, consolidation, and changing patient expectations, the model of care no longer means visiting the same doctor for decades.

    KFF Health News senior correspondent Julie Appleby breaks down what is happening — and what it means for patients.

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    Credits

    Hannah Norman Video producer and animator Oona Tempest Illustrator and creative director KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

    Subscribe to KFF Health News’ free Morning Briefing.

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