For many women, menopause brings unwanted side effects that can impact their physical health, mental health and quality of life. These bothersome symptoms can range from hot flashes and night sweats to mood changes, dry eyes and strange occurrences such as a burning tongue.

Hormone therapy during menopause can reduce hot flashes, night sweats, and other symptoms that impact a woman’s quality of life, including certain vaginal issues. It also can help prevent bone loss. However, hormone therapy – often called hormone replacement therapy (HRT) – has a confusing history when it comes to cardiovascular health. UAB Medicine cardiologist Gretchen Wells, M.D., explains how changing interpretations of research have left some women unsure whether they can safely use this proven treatment.

Up to 70 percent of women with high-grade ovarian cancer see their cancer return after surgery and platinum-based chemotherapy. A new clinical trial at the University of Alabama at Birmingham is testing an investigational treatment that could eventually offer a new way to fight the disease.

Regular physician visits and medical screenings are critical to maintaining one’s health. However, women are often unsure about what tests they need and at what age, which doctors they should be seeing annually, and what physiological changes they may experience at certain ages.

The condition long known as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) has a new name: polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome, or PMOS. It may be harder to say, but the new name better describes a condition that affects hormones, periods, blood sugar, and more. Also, the somewhat misleading word “cyst” is no longer part of the name.

Premature and sick newborns are at high risk of having neurodevelopmental delays that can affect their language and reading skills, particularly when they are in a neonatal intensive care unit. The University of Alabama at Birmingham and Children’s of Alabama launched the NICU Bookworms reading program in 2021. This program helps reduce these deficits, increase parent-infant bonding and encourage shared reading starting at birth for all babies. This year, City of Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin joined employees at UAB and Children’s of Alabama to celebrate the five-year anniversary of the program and recognize all that has been accomplished since its establishment. Mayor Woodfin joined families in UAB’s Regional Newborn Intensive Care Unit to read to some of UAB Medicine and Children’s of Alabama’s smallest patients.

Primary care physicians are often the first providers patients turn to when experiencing perimenopause and menopause symptoms. Now, the Family Medicine Clinic at UAB Hospital-Highlands is offering a new multidisciplinary menopause clinic designed to help patients understand their symptoms, explore treatment options and improve their overall wellbeing.

Uterine fibroids are noncancerous growths that develop in or on the uterus, and they are so common that many women have them and never know it. However, they can sometimes cause significant symptoms such as infertility, heavy bleeding, and pelvic pain or pressure.

Eating habits that align most closely with a woman’s existing routine show promise for losing postpartum baby weight, especially for mothers earlier in the postpartum period, according to a new study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Researchers identified key factors impacting eating timing and perceived barriers to various chrononutrition approaches, with the ability to share a family evening meal emerging as particularly important.

Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have been awarded an $8 million R01 grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases to better understand the long-term health of children exposed to metformin during pregnancy. Metformin is a medication used to treat Type 2 diabetes during pregnancy. 

Urinary incontinence is a condition that impacts both men and women. Defined by the involuntary leakage of urine, UI more commonly impacts women than men. Since incontinence is classified as a non-life-threatening condition, many women find themselves suffering in silence, dealing with the symptoms and residual impacts in secret.

From adolescence to adulthood, women’s health is often surrounded by misconceptions that can lead to confusion and misinformation. Sarah Dunk, M.D., assistant professor in the Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, addresses some of the most common misconceptions.