Five Amazing Breakthroughs
In women's health, climate science, medicine, beauty and highly sensitive people!
Hello to our readers all around the world! I started this series last year, in the wake of so much global darkness and uncertainty. I need hope, inspiration and wonder to thrive, so I started hunting for amazing breakthroughs in medicine, longevity, tech, science, climate solutions and other areas to lift me up. Sharing them with the Womancake community has been my pleasure, and I’ll continue to do it every month so we can all stay as positive as possible.
Let’s start with some genuine PUSSY POWER (aka vaginal health news): A recent study concluded that women over 55 who are using vaginal estrogen enjoy a 51% reduction in sepsis, 22% lower hospitalization rates, and a whopping 73% reduction in mortality! Read that again!! These stats show that vaginal estro is highly effective in combating the effects of UTIs, which can be devastating as we age. Making vaginal estrogen part of our personal care routines is a wonderful and life-affirming action we can take to keep ourselves healthy and alive. Some more good news: many new studies also show that women with a history of breast cancer CAN use vaginal estrogen, as it’s applied locally and stays mostly local in your system. Anecdotally, I can share that two women in my life who are breast cancer survivors just got the green light from their docs to start on the estrogen creme. I also use it, and have found it to be excellent, and I actually wish I’d started on it a few years earlier, like in my mid-40s.
How about a blockbuster scientific discovery for mother Earth and all humankind: scientists have grown man-made cells that can feed, grow and reproduce. (Pictured above through a microscope). They’re alive but contained, and cannot survive outside the lab. What does this mean? Oh, nothing much… just that we can now use these amazing little guys to do things like create brand-new medicines, make sustainable fuels, or grab huge amounts of carbon from the air. I MEAN WOW!! This mind-blowing research was led by a female biologist at the University of Minnesota, and she and her colleagues have founded a non-profit that will fund more research so that everyone can benefit from their work. Take that, corporate science guys!
Let’s jump to some fantastic news about immunization against bad stuff: data now shows that, along with protection against you-know-what, the Covid vax also provides some protection against regular cardio-vascular issues, and the hospitalizations and deaths that go with them. If you follow this series, you know I’m a huge fan of vaccines. I’ll be first in line whenever the all-cancer vax is available, but until then, I’m keeping up with my seasonal vaxxing, including this one.
Let’s do a breakthrough in understanding about extremely sensitive people: a new study appears to show a strong association between ADHD and severe chronic pain. I don’t understand much of the scientific jargon here, but the study offers a helpful directive that people with chronic pain should be screened for ADHD (as well as anxiety and depression), and that managing those symptoms may be the key to lessening the severity of their pain. There might be a chicken-or-egg thing going on, as pain can make you feel depressed and anxious, but it’s worth looking into.
Lastly, let’s investigate a midlife fitness breakthrough: A new AI survey of 1,700 people in their 50s shows that those with strong chest and back muscles are less likely to have a heart attack. Whether this is some magic inherent in torso strength, or simply that these people are more fit in general, has not been determined, but this is compelling info. Look, I hate planking as much as the next person, but I do it three times a week during my workouts. I hold it for just over a minute, then collapse on my yoga mat, panting and groaning like I’ve just scaled Everest (I know, I know…!). It took half a year to work up to planking for just over a minute, but now I’m going to add another minute by the end of 2026, cause torso power is (apparently) protective.
BONUS BREAKTHROUGHS!
Here’s a personal beauty breakthrough: although I was raised by hippies who believed that goat’s milk bar soap could clean every part of you perfectly well, I always gravitated toward more refined products for my face. But I just discovered this clean, hippie-adjacent (it’s made with kale!) well-priced face cleanser that gives me a gorgeous glow I’ve never had before. A little goes a long way, and I’ve found the full-size pump version to be too much, so I buy the smaller size in bulk. Bonus: it comes in a glass bottle, reducing microplastic exposure.
Would you like a blockbuster cooking breakthrough? Hubs and I don’t eat red meat very often, but when we do, it’s gotta be good. How about this 3-ingredient roast beef recipe, which comes together in 5 minutes, cooks for a few hours, and always turns out perfectly. The last time I made it I grabbed a sprig of rosemary from a local garden and plopped it right on top of the meat, and it dripped down and flavored the whole dish perfectly. Next time I’m going to sneak some carrots and celery in there!
Speaking of food, SNAP benefits have been cut in half, and now there are more hungry families everywhere (yes, even in your city). Donate to your local food bank here.