Women’s Health: 50 Years of Progress

This transcript has been edited for clarity.

Hello, this is Dr JoAnn Manson, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital. I'd like to talk with you about a recent article that my colleague, Dr Cynthia Stuenkel at UCSD and I published in the New England Journal of Medicine in June, chronicling 50 years of advances in women's health, including prevention, early detection, and treatment. This was part of the National Academy of Medicine’s series, A Half Century of Progress in Health.

In parallel, we reviewed the key public policy milestones that have made the scientific progress possible, including improved access to contraception, greater reproductive autonomy in women, the banning of employment discrimination against pregnant women, and generally greater opportunities for women in society, together with federal initiatives to promote the inclusion of women in clinical research.

I'm going to focus on two areas: cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Progress in Cardiovascular Disease

In terms of cardiovascular health, several major nationwide studies have really helped to improve our understanding of women's cardiovascular and cardiometabolic health across the lifespan. These include the Nurses’ Health Study, the Women's Health Initiative, the Study of Women's Health Across the Nationthe