Women's Health Editor
Dr. Anika Sharma is a board-certified OB-GYN with 10 years of clinical experience. She is passionate about making women's health information accessible and evidence-based, with particular expertise in prenatal care and hormonal health.
The 2002 Women's Health Initiative panicked a generation of women off hormone therapy. The decade of reanalysis that followed clarified that the original conclusion did not apply to the women being told to fear it.
Roughly 1 in 10 women of reproductive age has endometriosis. The average time from first symptom presentation to diagnosis is between 7 and 10 years across most published studies. The reasons for this gap are well-documented, and they explain why the condition remains undertreated despite being one of the most prevalent gynecological diseases.
Twenty years after the Women's Health Initiative scared a generation of women off hormone therapy, the data has been re-examined, the framing has shifted, and the women most likely to benefit are also the women most often turned away.
Polycystic ovary syndrome affects roughly 10 percent of women of reproductive age. The textbook framing positions it as a hormonal condition with metabolic complications. Twenty years of clinical research suggests the relationship runs in the opposite direction.
From Naegele's rule to real-time fetal monitoring, the way we track pregnancy weeks has transformed obstetric care — and redefined how expectant parents experience the journey.