Genetics may explain why some women gain weight when using a popular method of birth control, researchers say.

"For years, women have said that birth control causes them to gain weight but many doctors failed to take them seriously," said lead study author Dr. Aaron Lazorwitz. He's assistant professor of obstetrics/gynecology and family planning at the University of Colorado School of...

Screening for breast and ovarian cancer genes might be added to the list of medical tests that can be safely and effectively done from home, new research suggests.

The study looked at screening for BRCA1, BRCA2 and other gene mutations linked to an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation have as much as a 7 in 10 chance of getting breast canc...

An Alzheimer's diagnosis is devastating, no matter your sex. But the disease strikes far more women than men.

Journalist and author Maria Shriver is determined to help researchers figure out why women make up two-thirds of those with Alzheimer's disease. And why certain races and ethnicities are harder hit, too.

"Some of the biggest research challenges in terms of gender d...

MRI imaging has uncovered key differences in blood flow to the placenta in pregnant women who are healthy and those with preeclampsia.

That could help explain why babies born to mothers with preeclampsia -- dangerously high blood pressure during pregnancy -- are often smaller and premature, according to researchers at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom.

The ...

Women with cancerous cells in their milk ducts -- also known as DCIS -- are at a high risk for developing fatal breast cancer, British researchers report.

DCIS is short for ductal carcinoma in situ, an early form of breast cancer. With stepped-up breast screening, it has become an increasingly common diagnosis.

Though it's not immediately life-threatening, DCIS more than dou...

Women who had COVID-19 while pregnant showed evidence of placental injury, suggesting a new complication of the illness, researchers say.

The good news from the small study of 16 women is that "most of these babies were delivered full-term after otherwise normal pregnancies," said study senior author Dr. Jeffrey Goldstein. He's assistant professor of pathology at Northwestern Universi...

Multiple sclerosis can cause weakness, pain, fatigue and vision problems. The disease also appears to increase the odds of heart disease and stroke, new research suggests.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a central nervous system disorder that can affect movement. The British study found that people with MS were nearly one-third more likely to have "macrovascular disease." Those are condit...

Many older women struggle with urinary tract infections, and researchers now think they know why.

A big reason is because their bladder walls can be invaded by several species of bacteria, a recent study found.

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common type of bacterial infections in women, accounting for nearly 25% of all infections. UTI recurrence rate...

Women who take hop-based supplements to relieve symptoms of menopause needn't fear that they will interact with other drugs, a new study suggests.

Hops are the flowers of hop plants and they give beer its bitter taste. They also contain phytoestrogens and act like female sex hormones. Some women who can't use hormone replacement therapy find that hop supplements alleviate change-of-l...

It's a myth that heart attacks are a "man's disease." Yet a new research review confirms that women remain less likely than men to get medications routinely recommended for preventing heart trouble and strokes.

Researchers found that across 43 international studies, a general pattern emerged: Women with risk factors for heart disease and stroke were less likely than men to be prescrib...

Black and white women share genes that increase the risk for breast cancer, a new study finds.

These genes include BRCA1, BRCA2 and PALB2, each of which is associated with a more than sevenfold risk of breast cancer. Women of both races also share four other genes linked with a moderately increased risk, according to researchers.

"This means that the multi-gene panels that...

A Canadian newborn is a "probable" case of infection with the new coronavirus while still in the womb, doctors report.

Other such cases have been suspected and reported in prior studies. But the mother's active case of COVID-19, along with the fact that the baby boy was delivered via C-section, add weight to the notion that maternal-fetal transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus can occur...

There's good news for women: Getting a mammogram regularly can cut their odds of advanced and sometimes fatal breast cancers, a new study says.

European researchers tracked data from nearly 550,000 women in Sweden who were eligible for mammography screening.

The team compared rates of advanced and breast cancers that were fatal within 10 years after diagnosis for women who g...

Twice as many women who have high blood pressure during pregnancy may be at an increased risk for heart and kidney disease than once thought, a new study suggests.

For the study, researchers collected data on more than 9,800 pregnancies among more than 7,500 women in Olmsted County, Minn., who gave birth between 1976 and 1982.

During that time, 659 women had 719 high blood...

Women under age 65 with coronary artery disease are more likely to die if they live in rural areas of the United States, and premature deaths among them have surged, a new study finds.

Researchers analyzed nationwide data on premature deaths from coronary artery disease between 1999 and 2017. While premature deaths decreased overall, they remained consistently higher in rural areas --...

A study of pregnant women admitted to two New York City hospitals for delivery in late March and early April found that about 1 in 7 were infected with the new coronavirus and most didn't show symptoms.

Reporting April 13 in the New England Journal of Medicine, doctors from New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital and the Columbia University Irving Medical Center said they tested a...

Girls born by cesarean delivery may be more prone to obesity and type 2 diabetes as adults, a new study suggests.

Of more than 33,000 women born between 1946 and 1964, nearly 1,100 were delivered by C-section. Of those women, 37% were obese and 6% had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes by 2014, the study found.

"The results of our study suggest that the previously...

Whether she gets it from fruits, beans, grains or vegetables, dietary fiber appears to at least slightly lower a woman's risk for breast cancer, a comprehensive new review finds.

The review covered data from 20 different trials involving millions of women. It found that high levels of total fiber consumption "was associated with an 8% lower risk of breast cancer," compared to low ...

If you're a middle-aged woman, it's not too late to make lifestyle changes that could significantly reduce your risk of stroke, researchers say.

"We found that changing to a healthy lifestyle, even in your 50s, still has the potential to prevent strokes," said lead author Goodarz Danaei, an associate professor of cardiovascular health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Doctors rely on a variety of risk assessments to evaluate how likely a person is to develop heart disease. While the scores provide an invaluable tool for health care professionals and the general public alike, they are not infallible.

For example, they sometimes fail to accurately predict risk in a condition where there's a lack of blood flow to tissues but no obstruction in the hea...

The makeup of bacteria in an expectant mother's vagina may help identify which women are most at risk of giving birth prematurely, a new study suggests.

It also found that pregnant women who deliver early are more likely to have a diverse community of vaginal bacteria.

The findings, based on more than 3,000 samples taken from more than 400 women, were recently published in the j...

The U.S. suicide rate has jumped 35% in the past two decades, health officials reported Wednesday.

From 1999 to 2018, the suicide rate rose from 10.5 to 14 per 100,000, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Researchers found the rate of suicide rose by about 1% a year from 1999 to 2006, then increased to 2% a year ...

If more women were hired for trucking jobs, the roads would be a lot safer, British researchers suggest.

That's because men, who hold most driving jobs, are more likely to drive dangerously. This puts other road users at risk, said lead researcher Rachel Aldred. She's a reader in transport at the University of Westminster in London.

"Greater gender equity would have a posi...

PTSD can cause severe psychic distress, but it may also raise heart risks for female veterans in particular, a new study suggests.

"The association we found was incredibly strong," said lead author Dr. Ramin Ebrahimi, a cardiologist affiliated with the Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System.

"We have a rising number of women veterans, and a large proportion o...

Women with coronary artery disease have less narrowing in their blood vessels but more chest pain than men with the condition, a new study finds.

In coronary artery disease, plaque build-up in arteries results in reduced blood flow (ischemia) to the heart.

The study included more than 1,100 women and more than 4,000 men whose results on cardiac stress tests indicated they ha...

Eating tofu and other foods with high levels of isoflavones -- plant-based "phytoestrogens" -- could lower people's risk of heart disease, a new study suggests. The effect was especially strong in women.

"Other human trials and animal studies of isoflavones, tofu and cardiovascular risk markers have also indicated positive effects, so people with an elevated risk of developing heart d...

Cholesterol-lowering statins are commonly used to help prevent heart disease. Now a new study hints that they could shield women's hearts from the harms of certain breast cancer drugs.

The study focused on women in Canada who'd been treated with either chemotherapy drugs called anthracyclines or the medication Herceptin. Though the treatments can be lifesaving, they can also damage th...

As coronavirus continues to spread, pregnant women may be especially anxious.

But a University of California, Los Angeles expert says there's no reason to panic.

While expectant mothers are at higher risk for developing complications from some respiratory viruses because they have a weakened immune system, they need not be overly concerned about coronavirus, according to Dr....

Taller and thinner girls are more likely to develop the often painful condition known as endometriosis, according to the results of a six-decade study.

The findings could lead to earlier detection and treatment of the common gynecological disease, the researchers said.

In endometriosis, tissue that looks and acts like the lining of the uterus grows in locations outside it. ...

Why are two out of three people struck by Alzheimer's disease women?

That's the question that drove journalist and author Maria Shriver to start the Women's Alzheimer's Movement (WAM). The group is dedicated to raising awareness that women face a greater risk of Alzheimer's disease, and aims to fund women-based research for Alzheimer's disease.

"Women's research is way beh...

How your blood flows through your heart may depend on whether you are a man or a woman, new research suggests.

For the study, researchers used a sophisticated imaging technique called 4D flow MRI to examine blood flow and to assess how it influences cardiac performance.

Scans of the heart's main pumping chamber, the left ventricle, were analyzed from 20 men and 19 women.

The immunotherapy drug Keytruda might offer a new treatment option to women with an aggressive form of breast cancer, a clinical trial suggests.

The study found that for women with "triple-negative" breast cancer, adding Keytruda to standard chemotherapy improved their odds of responding.

And in the months afterward, women treated with the drug were less likely to see their ...

Female firefighters are exposed to chemicals that may be linked with breast and other types of cancer, researchers say.

Compared to women working in offices, female firefighters in San Francisco are exposed to higher levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). These chemicals are used in firefighting foam and uniforms, grease- and water-resistant coatings and in fabrics, fur...

It's a dangerous equation: Poor sleep triggers a bad diet, and the two can equal a higher risk for obesity and heart disease in women, a new study contends.

"Women are particularly prone to sleep disturbances across the life span, because they often shoulder the responsibilities of caring for children and family and, later, because of menopausal hormones," said study senior author Bro...

People sometimes refer to menopause as "the change of life," but many women are surprised that one of the things that changes is their skin, an expert says.

"Although fluctuating hormones during menopause can result in a number of skin changes, these don't need to be disruptive to daily life," said New York City dermatologist Dr. Diane Berson. "With the right care, women can continue ...

In what doctors call a breakthrough, a cancer patient in France gave birth to the first baby conceived from an immature egg that was matured in the laboratory, frozen, then later thawed and fertilized.

"We were delighted that the patient became pregnant without any difficulty and successfully delivered a healthy baby at term," said team leader Michaël Grynberg, head of reproduct...

Red dresses and pink ribbons have helped millions of Americans become aware of the separate tolls heart disease and breast cancer take on women. But not everyone is aware of how the illnesses can intersect.

Heart disease - the No. 1 killer of women - can sometimes be a complication of breast cancer treatment. Older women who survive breast cancer are more likely to die of heart disea...

Most folks know that being a couch potato is bad for their health, but new research suggests that women who spend hours in their chairs and sofas might face greater risks than believed.

Sitting for long periods of time can increase risk factors for heart disease and diabetes, particularly if those bouts of sitting aren't broken up by occasionally getting up and stretching, the study f...

Women who experience domestic abuse may be more likely to develop heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes, new research suggests.

The British study, published this week in the Journal of the American Heart Association, sought to fill in gaps in what is known about the link between domestic abuse and cardiovascular disease - the leading cause of death in women globally. One...

Traditional stroke risk factors, such as high blood pressure, smoking and diabetes, impact people of various races and genders differently, new research shows.

"The biggest thing we found was that hypertension has a bigger effect on stroke among African American men than it does on (white people) or African American women, even in young adulthood," said lead investigator Elizabeth Ar...

Women remain underrepresented in heart disease research, even though it's the leading cause of death among women worldwide, researchers say.

Women accounted for less than 40% of all people enrolled in cardiovascular clinical trials from 2010 through 2017, according to a study published Feb. 17 in the journal Circulation.

"One woman dies from cardiovascular disease...

Fresh donated eggs appear to be better for in-vitro fertilization (IVF) than frozen ones, a new study suggests.

Donor eggs provide the best chance of success for many women undergoing IVF, according to the authors.

But it wasn't clear whether using fresh or frozen donor eggs in IVF improves the chances of success, so a team from the University of Colorado and Duke University...

There's some good news about the new coronavirus: Preliminary research suggests that the virus cannot be transmitted from an infected pregnant woman to the fetus.

The researchers stressed that the study population was small -- just nine pregnant women -- and a number of other factors mean questions linger when it comes to maternal-fetal transmission.

For the study, the rese...

The image of the strong African American woman - resilient, driven to succeed, devoted to those around her - is rooted in generations of history. Many women see it as a proud legacy that helps shield them from the insults of entrenched discrimination.

But health-wise, that shield might be a double-edged sword.

As part of the African American Women's Heart and Health Study,...

Women who receive general anesthesia during a cesarean section delivery are at higher risk of severe postpartum depression that requires hospitalization, as well as self-inflicted harm and suicidal thoughts, a new study finds.

Researchers from Columbia University analyzed more than 428,000 discharge records of women who delivered by C-section in New York state hospitals between 2006 a...

Most women won't be surprised by this finding: Less than one-third of women worldwide are satisfied with the size of their breasts.

But a new study suggests that what many women may not realize is their dissatisfaction could have implications for their health.

Surveys of more than 18,500 women in 40 countries, average age 34, found that 48% wanted larger breasts, 23%...

More than two-thirds of Americans don't know that heart disease is the leading cause of death among U.S. women, a new survey reveals.

Overall, 68% of respondents weren't aware that heart disease is the top killer of women, but the rate was much higher (80%) among millennials.

A large number of respondents mistakenly believed breast cancer is the main cause of death i...

Older women with colon or rectal cancer are more likely to die early if they lack support from family, friends or others, a new study finds.

For the study, researchers looked at more than 1,400 postmenopausal women with colon or rectal cancer who were enrolled in the long-term U.S. Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study.

Compared to those with strong social support, those wit...

Urinary tract infections plague millions of Americans. Now new research suggests that what they eat might have a role to play.

The Taiwanese study compared UTI rates among nearly 10,000 Buddhists living in the island nation, about a third of whom followed a strict vegetarian diet.

The research couldn't prove a cause-and-effect link, but it showed that people who eschewed mea...

When most people think of sexual harassment of females on the job, they assume it's happening to lower-level staffers. But surprisingly, women supervisors actually encounter more of it than other female workers, a new study finds.

Researchers examined workplace sexual harassment in the United States, Japan and Sweden. They found that female supervisors experienced between 30% and ...