hormones - Page 6

Opioids, Chronic Pain and Low Testosterone in Men

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Does your guy suffer from chronic pain? Does he use opioid based pain-killers on a regular basis? Then he may also have low testosterone. Low testosterone or as the advertisers call it, Low T, is associated with a range of health issues beyond just reduced libido or sex drive. His low testosterone could be an important factor in his health and recovery.

Testosterone influences, muscle mass, bone density, cognition and memory, depression, and even insulin production. Many men with low testosterone are at risk of osteopenia and osteoporosis. Lower testosterone or hypogonadism has even been associated with an increased risk of heart attack. That means, in addition to worrying about managing chronic pain, the risks associated with long term opioid use, you and your guy now also should be aware of the critical hormone changes taking place. It is possible these hormone changes are compounding an already difficult recovery.

The study, published in the Clinical Journal of Pain, found that 53% of the men tested who were using daily opioids had low testosterone. Moreover, 74% of men using long-acting or time-released opioid pain killers had low testosterone compared to only 34% of those using short acting opioid pain-killers. Interestingly, the morphine-standardized equivalent dose (MSE),  a measure of how much pain-killer is circulating in the bloodstream, was not associated with the testosterone levels. This means that higher dose pain killers were not tied to lower testosterone, only the duration of the medication action was associated with the hormone change.  Long-acting (time release) pain-killers were linked to lower testosterone while short-acting pills were not.

 Long-acting Opioids

  • Buprenorphine
  • Fentanyl
  • Methadone
  • Morphine CR
  • Oxycodone

Short-acting Opioids

  • Oxycodone IR
  • Hydrocodone

If your guy is using is opioid pain-killers to manage a chronic pain from injury, have his doctor check his testosterone levels too.

Medical Disclaimer: All material on this web site is provided for your information only and may not be construed as, nor should it be a substitute for, professional medical advice. To read more about our health policy see Terms of Use.

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What is DES and Why You Should Care

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Diethylstilbestrol or DES is synthetic estrogen developed in the late 1930s. It was initially approved by the FDA in 1941 for vaginitis and as an early hormone replacement therapy for menopausal women.  It was later approved a variety of low estrogen indications. In 1947, the FDA approved its use in pregnant women with a history of miscarriage. DES had been used off-label for miscarriage prevention since the early 1940s, despite the fact that little evidence supported its use and animal studies indicated clear carcinogenic and congenital reproductive abnormalities in the offspring.

After 10 years of widespread use and marketing, a double-blind, placebo-controlled study on the efficacy of DES was finally conducted. As one might expect, it was found ineffective in preventing miscarriage. In fact, women on DES had a higher risk of miscarriage. Later studies in the 1960s began detailing the adverse events associated with this drug. Despite mounting evidence of the dangers of diethylstilbestrol, it remained on the market and widely used through the early 1970s in the US and into the 1980s in some European countries.  In the US alone, it is estimated that between 5-10 million women and their children were exposed to DES.  Because the compound was never patented, 287 drug companies sold DES under a multitude of brands  and for an array of low-estrogen conditions.

In addition to diethylstilbestrol use in humans, it was used widely in farm animals to fatten up the chickens and cattle, beginning in the early 1950s and through the 1970s. DES was found to cause cancer and interestingly enough, cause gynecomastia (man boobs) and sterility in the poultry workers. Well before DES was banned in humans, the FDA banned it in poultry under the newly enacted Delaney Clause to the FDA 1958.  It seems man boobs and sterility was all it took to ban the product in chicken farms.  Miscarriage, congenital abnormalities and cross-generation cancer risks, on the other hand, were not sufficient to initiate its ban in large cattle or humans. It was another 20 years before diethylstilbestrol was banned in cattle or humans and many years after before it was removed from the food chain (if it even is now).  “In 1980, half a million cattle from one hundred and fifty-six feedlots in eighteen states were found with illegal DES implants.”  Even upon FDA’s decision to withdraw its approval of DES in cattle and feed, it did so on grounds of the procedural non-compliance of the manufacturers, erstwhile maintaining the safety of diethylstilbestrol, “because there is no evidence of a public health hazard.”  Despite its clear carcinogenic and teratogenic risks, it is still used in veterinary care.

Diethylstilbestrol Risk for Humans

Amongst those suffering the most from DES exposure are men and women who were exposed in utero as developing fetuses.  DES was given to pregnant women from the 1940 through 1971 in the US and into the 1980s in some European countries. If you were born anytime between 1940 and 1980, ask your mom if she was given DES to prevent miscarriage. It was sold under dozens of brand names (click here for brand names).

Sons and Daughters of DES

The range of depth of reproductive abnormalities, endocrine and health issues found in the children and grandchildren of DES moms, is expanding regularly. If your mom or grandmother was given DES, here is a list of health issues to look for:

DES Daughters

In a large cohort study comparing the reproductive health of the daughters of women prescribed DES during pregnancy to the health of women whose mothers had not been given DES, researchers found a 2-8 times higher incidence of the following conditions:

  • Infertility
  • Spontaneous abortion
  • Ectopic pregnancy
  • Second trimester pregnancy loss,
  • Preterm delivery
  • Preeclampsia
  • Stillbirth
  • Neonatal death
  • Early menopause
  • Breast cancer
  • Cervical neoplasia
  • Clear cell adenocarcinoma

The increased risk of miscarriage and adverse pregnancy outcome in DES daughters is overwhelmingly linked to structural abnormalities with uterus. Fully 69% of DES daughters who have had difficult with infertility and miscarriage have an abnormally shaped uterine cavity or structural changes to the cervix (44%).

DES and Endometriosis

Of particular interest to Hormones Matter followers, DES exposure in utero is linked to an 80% increase in endometriosis. We will be digging deeper into the DES – endometriosis connection in the coming weeks.

DES Sons

Sons of women given DES during pregnancy are three times more likely to have structural abnormalities of the genitals including:

  • epididymal cysts
  • undescended testes
  • extremely small testes
  • hypospadias (misplaced urethral opening)
  • micropenis (some, but not all)
  • increased risk of infertility
  • increased risk of testicular and prostate cancer (although the research has just begun)

In the animal research, offspring of DES exposed mothers shows a vast array of structural and morphological changes across multiple physiological systems ranging from sex reversal in male fish to structural and functional changes in pancreatic cells. The full scope of damage from DES is yet to be determined.

DES Grandchildren

Yes, there are third generation effects from this drug. Researchers are just beginning to untangle the third generation effects. In women, menstrual irregularities appear more common as do the various forms of cancer, but the data are unclear. In men, hypospodias may be more frequent, but again the data are mixed.

Endocrine disruptors like diethylstilbestrol impact human health in ways we are only just beginning to understand. The current methods for measuring and calculating risk for endocrine disruptors is out-dated and based on standard, linear, dose-response curves that not only fail to account for how hormone systems work, but also fail to address possible transgenerational effects. Hormones matter and sooner or later we must address the broader endocrine system in pharmaceutical and environmental regulation. As women, we ought to be fighting for sooner.

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The Flu and You: Thoughts on Prevention and Treatment

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Epidemic incidences of influenza are sweeping across the United States. This highly contagious respiratory disease—targeting all ages—is spreading with a vengeance. Forty-seven states have reported widespread “flu,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) current flu activity report. CDC officials estimate that the United States is only about halfway through a typical, 12-week flu season.

This season’s predominant strain of influenza is H3N2, a more potent type of influenza A virus that is statistically associated with more deaths and hospitalizations. What can you do to protect you and your family from this dreaded illness?

Is It Too Late to Prevent the Flu?

Proponents of the influenza vaccine are encouraging healthy people to get a flu shot, pronto. On the one hand, this season’s vaccine includes the H3N2 strain. On the other hand, anecdotal reporting suggests that some individuals who received the influenza vaccine have contracted the flu. However, it is too early in the season to understand the effectiveness of the vaccine.

Common Sense Approaches to Help Prevent the Flu

  • Frequently wash your hands. Keep your hands away from your mouth, nose, and eyes.
  • Enjoy nightly sleep of at least seven or eight hours.
  • Routinely exercise and consume a healthy diet.
  • Avoid crowds, if possible, as well as people who exhibit flu-like symptoms.

An effective approach to thwart the flu is to maintain a healthy immune system. Benefits of a substance called “Beta 1,3D Glucan” include strengthening the immune system. High-quality, beta-glucan supplements are derived from the cell wall of baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and available over-the-counter and online. Some healthcare practitioners exalt the effectiveness of taking a daily, beta-glucan capsule when your immunity may be threatened.

From a longer term standpoint, enjoying year-round, circulating vitamin D3 levels of at least 50ng/mL may be a proactive approach to fight influenza and other viruses. The direct correlation between influenza and winter seasons is no coincidence. Flu outbreaks typically occur during the season’s darkest days when little vitamin D is available from the sun’s rays. As a vitamin D advocate and writer, I emphasize the important role that vitamin D3 plays on the immune system. Activated vitamin D3 strengthens the immune system by producing peptides that combat viruses such as influenza. The more activated vitamin D3 in your body to bolster your immunity, the less likely you are to contract viruses such as the flu.

What Can You Do to Feel Better from the Flu?

Influenza strikes suddenly, usually without warning. According to the CDC, influenza symptoms include some or all of the following: fever, chills, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches, and fatigue.

You may feel as if you have been run over by a bus. Here are some tips to help alleviate your symptoms:

  • Staying hydrated. Drink at least eight glasses of water a day. Avoid beverages that contain caffeine and alcohol. Try decaffeinated tea with honey.
  • Enjoy chicken soup—a centuries-old remedy.
  • Add natural garlic, ginger, and lemon to your diet.
  • Stay home and rest. Misery likes company but no one wants your misery.

Lucine’s First Woman, Chandler Marrs, PhD, CEO and president of Lucine Health Sciences, says her flu remedy is black elderberry plus a vitamin cocktail and plenty of rest.

What’s your “tried and true” flu remedy? Join our conversation as we share tips about dealing with the flu.

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Personal Perspective – Hormones, Mood and Endometriosis

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When I think back to when I was 10, that is when I started to get chronic headaches. This must be when my hormones started to kick in. I got my period at 13 and from then on things for me have never really been the same.

Hormones, Menstruation and Mood: Was there a Connection?

I had emotional outbursts as a teenager but I couldn’t connect them to my periods at the time because my periods were all over the place. My period could come every 15 days or 45 days. I never knew when it would come. There was no consistency and I was never one to check it off on a calendar, or worry about it.

I remember my teenage years as being dark and depressing. I couldn’t seem to get out of a funk. It only got worse after I graduated from high school. To me that was the beginning of the end, with excruciating abdominal pain, migraines and mood swings.  In the 10 years since leaving school, I was diagnosed with multiple co-morbid diseases such as Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, Restless Leg Syndrome, Depression, complicated migraines and finally endometriosis when I turned 27.

Doctors made me feel so crazy in my head and were quick to tell me I was depressed. I was once told by a doctor that he couldn’t see me anymore because I cried too much. After seeing at least 40 doctors, I was starting to really breakdown mentally. Why was everyone ignoring what I was saying? No one seemed to listen. They just pricked me with needles and said I was fine. I knew I wasn’t fine.

Pregnancy and Postpartum Hormones

I had my daughter when I was 25 and from that point on, the hormones went through the roof. I thought I was losing my bloody mind. I started to get more and more migraines to the point I had no choice but to go to the hospital to get medicated. Nothing seemed to work because of how sudden they would come on. I didn’t know at the time that my hormones were so out of whack. All I knew was that my mental state started to deteriorate and I no longer felt safe in my own apartment. I was seeing demons in my room. I was freaking out on my daughter. She was only two years old at the time. I knew I was suffering from depression now, but this was too long after postpartum wasn’t it?

Could it be Postpartum Depression?

I was watching TV one day and saw a show about postpartum depression. I decided then and there that I was going to bring myself to the hospital and just pray they wouldn’t take my kid away from me. I ended up talking to some man that didn’t even get what I was saying. He just threw me some sleeping pills and told me I was just tired.

Hormones, Mood and Endometriosis: Maybe There was a Connection

Soon after being sent home with sleeping pills, for what was likely postpartum depression, I received the results from a recent ultrasound. The 10cm cyst that would eventually lead to my diagnosis with endometriosis, was found. I was put on Marvelon21, a form of hormonal birth control. From the first week, I swear on my life, I felt like my world was full of rainbows and butterflies. I didn’t have the depression or the horrible thoughts. I started to really calm down. To this day, it is rare for me to get really angry and yell. I really think my hormones had me trapped for far too long. It is probably the main reason why I don’t ever feel that I could stop taking Marvelon ever. It saved my life. One little white pill, a very low dose birth control pill worked for me. Although, I know it doesn’t work for everyone.

I definitely feel that there are more than just hormones that affected my state of mind. I don’t feel that my body has ever been normal. I was an object of wonder when it came to doctors and their students. I was treated like a piece of dirt by every doctor. Most acted like I was making this all up. The few that were actually nice, didn’t really tell me to do anything further with treatments. They just told me what diseases I had and sent me home. No follow-ups just more confusion.

I try not to focus on the co-morbid diseases like I once did. I take one problem at a time. I refuse to believe that I actually have some of these diseases. Either way, I am not going to let my ill-health steal my life or my mind another day.

 

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Oxytocin and Cuddling Feed Your Relationship

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Oxytocin Junkies Haiku
Cuddling and snuggling
essential part of our diets
often neglected.
by Zen Clouseau

My husband and I conduct a daily morning ritual. We cuddle. It is quite simply the underpinning of our lovely relationship. Yup, you heard me right. Cuddling is the secret sauce to getting on well (and occasionally leads to getting it on well, as well). We even set our alarm 15 minutes early to allow time for this ritual. And on the rare mornings we miss a cuddling session, something seems off the rest of the day for both of us.

I’m not sure how or why, but we’ve jokingly come to refer to this time we carve out for each other as the “four stations of the cross” (there are four cuddling positions in our sequence).  Perhaps part of it is that cuddling gets to the sacred ground that is intimacy.  In addition to feeling sooo good–having all this skin on skin and stroking and holding and scratching each other’s backs– cuddling feeds and sustains our relationship somehow.  Mary Oliver puts words to this simple practice in her poem Wild Geese “You do not have to walk on your knees. For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.”

As is true of so much we experience, there is a hormonal explanation for why cuddling works. It has to do with an all-powerful hormone oxytocin. It is not only released in response to intimacy and labor, women also have oxytocin to thank for promoting mother-child bonding and let-down when it’s feeding time. In addition, oxytocin:

  • Increases sexual receptivity and counteracts impotence.
  • Creates feelings of calmness.
  • Bonding – establishes a sense of connection.
  • Reduces stress.
  • Increases immunity to repair, heal, and restore faster.
  • Faster wound healing.
  • Lowers blood pressure.
  • Protects against heart disease.
  • Reduces cravings and addictions.
  • Eases depression.

Now there is an additional and surprising benefit.

Last week the Journal of Neuroscience published scientific evidence of what my husband and I have discovered experientially. Contrary to their hypothesis, neuroscientists at the University of Bonn in Germany found that men in monogamous relationships who when administered synthetic oxytocin put a little extra space between themselves and an attractive woman they’d just met. More predictably, single heterosexual men, when administered the oxytocin substitute, put themselves 6-1/2” closer to an attractive woman than those men in monogamous relationships.

Scientists have long believed that boosting oxytocin in the human brain promotes indiscriminate trusting, friendly behavior. Based on the new findings, researchers speculate that oxytocin has a more discriminating role in human interaction. Paul Zak, founding director of Claremont Graduate University’s Center for Neuroeconomics Studies, said the new findings even provide us some evidence that “our brains evolved to form long-term romantic relationships.”

I’m not the least bit surprised researchers have found scientific evidence that oxytocin has more subtle effects than previously thought, and is a key ingredient to a stable relationship. After all, if you and your partner are leaving the house every morning chock full of the stuff, what reason would you have to stray from that relationship!?

Putting this all in context, after being bombarded with news stories about infidelity in public life, and plenty of evidence during the recent political season that humans (especially men) are devolving, both men and women have something to be optimistic about when it comes to monogamous relationships.  It merely requires setting your alarm clock 15 minutes earlier. Cuddling is something that feels good and has multiple health and relationship benefits too. So go ahead. Try it and do let us know how it works out for you and your relationship.

Source: “Oxytocin Modulates Social Distance between Males and Females“
Dirk Scheele1,*, Nadine Striepens1,*, Onur Güntürkün2, Sandra Deutschländer1, Wolfgang Maier1,4, Keith M. Kendrick3,†, and René Hurlemann1,†

Journal of Neuroscience, November 2012

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Way Too Much Biochemistry but Worth the Effort: Methylation Mutations

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mthfr mutations

Methylation and MTHFR Mutations

Louise’s Story Forty Years of Pain and Still No Diagnosis generated a lot discussion on Linkedin from physicians worldwide. Highlighted was the role of a common, but often untested genetic mutation on the MTHFR gene. The MTHFR gene affects how our enzymes process nutrients and regulate hormones, neurotransmitters and other chemical messengers in the body.  The following video is long, complicated and very technical, but well worth it if you or a family member suffers from one of the many complications, syndromes or diseases associated with these particular mutations.

 

Lucine Medical Disclaimer: All material on this website is provided for your information only and may not be construed as, nor should it be a substitute for, professional medical advice. To read more about our health policy, see Terms of Use.

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Forty Years of Pain and Still No Diagnosis

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I am Louise Heiner-van Dalen, 63 years old. I live with my husband André in Elim, a little village in the east of the Netherlands.

The Pain of Puberty

From the moment my periods started at age 15,  I had a lot of cramps and stomach pain. I went to the practitioner, and he did screenings of my blood and urine. Nothing was found. This was in 1964. The doctor told my mother that I was making it up to get attention. So my mother and my younger sister started telling me that they were strong and never complained, while I was weak and always had something to complain about.

Every two weeks I had a lot of pain, and I felt so bad; I really was ill. My mother and sister started to call me names and to tell everybody how childish I was.

Miscarriages and Endometriosis

I got married in my 25th year, and after two years, in 1976, we really wanted to get pregnant. In those years I lost two ‘babies’ during the first part of pregnancy.

We went to the gynecologist and examinations started. Fertility examinations did not seem to be possible for some reason, and in those years the only option was a diagnostic laparoscopy. Then they found that there was a kind of flap mechanism, which was why they couldn’t do the first examination.

During this surgery they also saw that there was a lot of endometriosis in the abdomen. They had to tap off a lot of infection. When I woke up the doctor told me it was impossible to get pregnant because the ovaries were shriveled up by the endometriosis.

He gave me medicines that should have stopped my periods for a longer time, but after a couple of months enormous bleeding started. I was not able to take a step because of the bleeding and there was no way to stop it.

My husband and I talked about it, and with pain in our hearts we decided to that I should have surgery to take out my uterus and ovaries. We were afraid that going on like this could cost me my life, and I didn’t like to live like this. I was only 29 years old, it was 1978.

Hysterectomy

After we talked with our practitioner and with the gynecologist, my surgery was planned. The gynecologist told us that they would inspect everything, and it maybe it would be possible the take out the endometriosis and to keep the uterus.

When I woke up after surgery, I felt the incision with my hand, and it felt empty. I knew. In those years, the gynecologist thought that leaving a tiny little piece of one the ovaries would be enough to prevent problems with estrogen hormones.

Post-Surgery- Cycles of Pain

I could no longer have children. We planned on adopting before we got married, so we started the process before my surgery. In the mean time, I didn’t feel well, but it was hard to tell what it was. My muscles and joints started to give problems, and I had a lot of headaches. Every four weeks I had several days of physical discomfort and mental instability.

In 1980, we adopted our first baby boy and we were so happy, but I was still in pain.The doctors kept on telling me that I needed medicines because of mental problems. I refused that, because I was sure that there were other problems. The abdominal pain returned. Another gynecologist did a laparoscopic examination again, and again he found endometriosis and a few chocolate cysts.

Our second baby boy came in 1981. The gynecologist monitored my condition.

Premarin, Other Hormones and Psychosis

In 1992, after another surgery, doctors conducted an intra-uterine inspection and discovered that my mucus membranes were very thin and sometimes bleeding. He decided to give me Premarin, an estrogen hormone.

In a short time, I felt better than ever before. We were so happy and the gynecologist told me that I had to take this for the rest of my life. But then more and more the doctors found out that using this medicine could cause a greater risk of developing breast cancer.

Because of my husband’s job we had to move every four years or so. This meant every four years I had to find a new house doctor. In 2004, our new house doctor forced me to stop the Premarin. I refused. Then he refused to give me a new prescription. Day by day, my situation got worse. There were signs of psychosis. I had a lot of pain in my legs and seven nightly perspiration in 15 minutes, so I never slept. We asked the doctor to send me to an endocrinologist, but he refused saying it was all mental problems and I had to see a psychiatrist. I refused, and my husband went to the doctor to tell him that he wouldn’t leave before he had a referral letter for the endocrinologist. The doctor gave him the letter, and my husband told him that we would never come back to him.

The endocrinologist agreed with my need for the medicines. He did screenings of my blood and wanted to monitor my progress. We had to find another practitioner.

Prescription Mishap – Pseudo Pregnancy and Leg Pain

In 2010, I planned to travel to Québec, so I took my new prescription for Dagynil, a hormone, to the pharmacy four weeks before I left. I told them that it was important to have them in time.

Shortly before leaving, my husband went to the pharmacist to get my Dagynil, but they didn’t have to correct dosage by mg. They gave him a splitter and told him that I could simply split the tablet. I always thought that it was not good to split this kind of medicines, but the pharmacist said it was safe.

During my stay in Québec, I felt more and more sick, especially in the morning, with nausea, and my daughter-in-law joked that I seemed pregnant. After the month long trip, I came home and a week later I felt another psychotic attack coming. I knew for sure that the pharmacist and the house doctor had made an enormous mistake.

My husband called for the doctor, and he didn’t believe us! I had so much pain in my legs, I felt so bad, and was really panicking. I asked the doctor to make a phone call to the endocrinologist, but he refused. Again the same story!

It took three weeks; by then I was so upset that I started to shout at the doctor as soon he entered my room. I lived in a strange world that wasn’t mine. I wanted to die to be with the two little babies I had lost. It was horrible. I kept on shouting at the doctor, and he was trying to make a phone call for a psychiatrist.

My husband told the doctor that it would be better to make a phone call to the endocrinologist. Finally he agreed, and the next morning he made a phone call to us to tell us that we had to go to the hospital immediately. Thank God!

The endocrinologist felt so sorry for me. Again the same story. He agreed that I was pregnant – at least I had all the signs – but there was no baby, of course. It took several weeks before I was feeling better after this bad adventure. I was prescribed the correct dosage of Dagynil and slowly I felt more myself.

Today

In 2011, we moved again, and we found a good, friendly doctor. We told him openly about the problems we had in the past, and he listened very carefully.

About six months ago, I woke up and felt strange, like another psychotic attack was coming up. I made an appointment with the doctor and told him that there seemed to be something wrong. He looked through blood tests from the last few months, since I needed monitoring because I have collagen/microscopic colitis. Then he saw that my thyroid numbers were going up slowly but still within the margin that is normal.

I asked the doctor to make a phone call to the endocrinologist, which he did immediately, while we were sitting there. The endocrinologist explained my hormone troubles, and he advised him to prescribe Euthyrox. I was happy and felt better within a couple of weeks.

My abdominal pain is still there, and nobody knows if it is the endometriosis or the colitis, but another surgery will give more scars and troubles inside. Forty years of pain and problems and I still do not have a diagnosis and my treatment plan changes often.

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Can we Manufacture Consent with Social Media?

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Manufactured consent with social media

Anyone who has read my commentary knows that I am prone to philosophical flights of fancy; quite a contradistinction to my day job promoting women’s health and researching hormone systems. This election, however, has me thinking of Noam Chomsky and how he might view the battle between the political propaganda of traditional money and media versus the power of social media.

A recent study by Pew suggested that nearly 40% of all mainstream news coverage focused on politics, apparently down from 53% in 2008. Depending upon the network’s political preference, one was more or less likely to hear positive reports of the chosen candidate or party and negative commentary about the challenger, with sparsely anything in between. The completely insular nature of our major news networks, were by any criteria, manufacturing consent for their viewers. In this post Citizen’s United election, mainstream media and money were so closely merged that nary a fact to the contrary of the stated opinion could break through.

Then there was social media, the vast diaspora of public opinion, where until recently (new Facebook algorithms) news, real and fake, spread like wildfire; where rather than big money selecting who you follow and by association the filters through which your news is served, we, the public can self-filter. We select who serves us our news by the very act of choosing who to follow or who to read. And we in turn can guide the direction of the conversation by choosing to re-tweet or share what we find. This is a remarkably powerful shift in information management, one that big money, no matter how it has tried, cannot yet contain or control.

Your Uterus, Your Ovaries and Social Media

Nowhere was the power of social media more obvious than in the women’s health debates. Beginning in earnest with the Sandra Fluke hearing and continuing through every asinine comment made by a male politico, social media brought voice and power to women in a way never before possible. Here are just a few of the women’s political sites that sprung up this election season.

Without the almost continuous accessibility of news and information and the unlimited degree to which information could be shared on social media, does anyone really think that women’s reproductive rights would have been covered at all by mainstream media?  Even post-election, the power of women and social media is barely mentioned by mainstream media, despite the fact that women effectively won the election for the democrats – by 18 points in the presidential race and by equally high margins across federal and state elections.

Social Media and Women’s Reproductive Rights

The silent majority is silent no longer. The question is – for how long? What corporate filters will silence the female masses and re-direct the conversation? Will the pendulum swing again and allow corporate and political money to determine what news we are served even in the social media sphere?

Unfortunately, yes. And it is already happening. The new Facebook algorithms released just last month, decide what news is important to the user (to some extent, it has done this all along, but never so egregiously). It doesn’t matter that users spend years developing a network of friends and followers or that they may really want to see little Susie’s first-day-of school-pictures. Nope, none of that matters. Facebook’s algorithm decides what will interest each user and only shows those feeds. As a result, users are only served about 16% of the content posted by their friends.

Since this latest change, traffic on most Facebook pages, where most political news is conveyed, is down by as much as 60-70%. Imagine if this had happened well before the election (algorithm rolled out at the end of September). Would women, who are the dominant users of Facebook been able to mobilize? Would grassroots organizations have been able to disseminate information effectively?  Maybe not.

Though I am certain Facebook’s motivation for these changes is monetary, the ultimate result will be political. And in that regard, Facebook has now become, by their very business model, arbiters of political speech, likely to the detriment of women’s health and all other ‘fringe’ movements that lack the money to market their message. Facebook is manufacturing consent, with all the same news filters Chomsky wrote about 30 years ago, plus the new algorithm filter. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want the brainchildren of Facebook controlling my access to news. Twitter anyone?

@ChanatLucine @LucineWoman

The irony – Facebook is the public square. So, even though only 16% of our followers will see this post on our page (Lucine Women Community), we must post it there anyway. It’s time for a new public square.

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