Health

(NEW YORK) — After Lauren Brown and her wife Amanda Brown married in 2018, they knew quickly afterward they wanted to start their own family.

The Browns saved up money and began fertility treatment, opting to undergo reciprocal IVF treatment. Embryos were created with Amanda Brown’s eggs and donor sperm, and then Lauren Brown carried three pregnancies, and after an immense journey, the Browns were able to welcome their sons Judah in 2020 and Malachi in 2022.

Inspired in part by her experience and with the blessing of her family, Lauren Brown, 36, decided to look into becoming a surrogate, especially for another LGBTQ+ family like her own and particularly for a gay couple.

Giving the gift of life

“I had been interested in participating in the gift of life in some shape or capacity for a long time,” the mom of two told Good Morning America of her motivation.

Brown partnered with Brownstone Surrogacy, also an LGBTQ-owned agency, and is now in the second trimester of her fourth pregnancy, for which she will be compensated, and said she is feeling “great” overall.

“[It] has been really fun and really life-giving to be able to give back to other members of our community in a similar way that we have been given so much,” Brown, who shares on social media about LGBTQ+ family building, said.

For intended parents Matthew McConnell and Stephen Elkind of San Francisco, the journey to parenthood has been a “rollercoaster” but matching with Brown as their surrogate, nearly 3,000 miles away in the Washington, D.C. area, was an unexpectedly quick and near immediate process through Brownstone Surrogacy.

“I’ll remember that day forever,” McConnell told “GMA” of their first virtual meeting through a Zoom call. “We were nervous but so excited and conversation just flowed so naturally.”

“And then I think within five or 10 minutes, both us and Lauren as well sent emails being like, ‘It’s a yes,'” McConnell continued.

The state of surrogacy in the U.S.

Surrogacy has been on the rise and according to one study, nearly 31,000 babies were born via surrogacy between 1999 and 2013, with at least a 2.5% increase during the decade.

Surrogacy is also not regulated on the federal level and paid surrogacy is currently legal in 48 states, except for Nebraska and Louisiana. In March 2024, Michigan also decriminalized paid surrogacy contracts.

Hope for the Future

Elkind and McConnell, as well as Brown, said they wanted to open up publicly about their shared journey to offer an example for others, especially in the LGBTQ+ community, who are looking to build their families.

“We, in the queer community deserve to have the families of our dreams,” Elkind said. “We don’t see a lot of these stories personally out there and so we want to let people know it’s possible.”

“There is a lot of work to do to get there and it can be very expensive but if it’s a goal of yours, if it’s something that you want, it’s not impossible,” he continued.

“For LGBTQ+families, for many of us, maybe having dealt with unsupportive family members, where family might be a place of pain or sadness or of loss or rejection, to be able to create the families that we dream of can be so particularly redemptive and can be such a joy,” Brown added.

McConnell and Elkind, who described Brown’s offer to be their surrogate as “everything,” are expecting their child later this year on Thanksgiving Day and they’ve already affectionately nicknamed them their “little turkey.”

“It means everything for us that Lauren has agreed to be our surrogate and is in this process with us,” Elkind said. “As a queer community, we have what it takes to make a family. We just have to work together.”

“This has been such a wonderful experience. It seemingly couldn’t go better,” McConnell said.

For anyone else considering surrogacy, Brown encouraged them to do it.

“If you have had an uncomplicated pregnancy in the past, you really should consider it because it’s not something that you will ever regret,” she said. “Helping somebody create the family of their dreams is just priceless.”

Pregnancy is a potentially life-threatening condition and being over the age of 35 poses increased risks for complications, even in individuals with prior uncomplicated pregnancies.

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(UVALDE, Texas) — After the tragic event at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers in 2022, a local librarian is giving back to the community where he was raised.

Mendell Morgan, Director of Development for El Progreso Memorial Library, welcomes people, especially those in Uvalde, to come for counseling services and other mental relaxation.

“After the tragedy here, I really wanted to do something for the community of Uvalde,” Morgan said. “I felt I was given so much growing up here I wanted to encourage our library to be a place of healing. I wanted to make a difference.”

El Progreso Memorial Library is situated in a rural area on the southwest side of Uvalde. The region is marked by poverty and students struggle with educational achievement.

Morgan was appointed library director in 2014, and the role transitioned to a more community-development position in January 2024. Morgan now helps people deal with grieving, death and anxiety through books in the library.

He also brought in therapy dogs and ponies to help people who are dealing with separation.

Locals in the community say he has been very resourceful, and he’s found ways to make the library a place that’s for everybody.

“He’s so kind,” Eliana Romero said. “He makes everybody feel like welcome and part of his group, and he’s just always trying to find ways to make the library better.”

To better connect with young people, Morgan began hosting game nights at the library, offering children a chance to learn chess and play Dungeons & Dragons.

The library also hosts a summer reading program, which Morgan says is extremely popular with young people.

“The goal is to keep up their interest in reading during this summer and help them be better prepared for the school year that lies ahead,” Morgan said. “Every Wednesday morning we start out with the song. And then we sit on our little special story rug and the story is read.”

Morgan says it is such a reward for him to see the results of the library’s programs: children acquiring a love for reading, being interactive with the library, experiencing the excitement of discovery.

He’s happy to see activity, life and good things going on in the Uvalde community, something he experienced as a child.

“I had a young mother come in to say in tears how thankful and grateful she was to see her child smiling again because that had not been seen since before the tragedy,” Morgan said.

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(NEW YORK) — A new study published in the journal Sleep Medicine analyzed existing data about sound levels of white noise machines and concluded that many devices can produce sounds louder than recommended for even adult workers — making them capable of being too loud for infants, who are more susceptible to negative effects of loud noises.

“Those devices exceeded what is appropriate for hearing health for any individual, just walking around and living their life,” Dr. Isaac Erbele, one of the study’s authors who specializes in ear and skull surgeries at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, told ABC News.

He is worried that many commercially available white noise machines are too loud to be safe for kids based on these findings. These machines are not federally regulated and the noise levels on these machines are sometimes not clearly labeled.

Current pediatric sound guidelines do not offer parents a specific decibel cutoff for white noise machines. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) states that machines should be located “as far away as possible from the infant, set the volume as low as possible, and limit the duration of use.” ABC News has previously reported on AAP’s warning to keep these machines seven or more feet away from a child.

The consequences of these sounds are less clear though. Existing studies show that loud noise can cause a stress response in neonates, but lullabies and breath sounds can help calm babies. The AAP does warn that excessive noise exposure from things like loud traffic, headphones and concerts can cause permanent hearing loss.

In the absence of decibel recommendations for infants, Erbele and his team used existing National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), guidelines as “a good ceiling,” for how loud white noise machines should be.

He was concerned that of the 24 white noise machines and six phone apps reviewed in his study, all of them “had levels that were higher than are permissible for an eight-hour shift by NIOSH.”

NIOSH has a recommended exposure limit (REL) of 85 decibels over eight hours. The louder the sound, the shorter the recommended exposure limit. 

According to NIOSH, “Workers who are exposed to noise at or above the NIOSH REL are at risk of developing significant hearing loss over their working lifetime.”

However, Erbele said more research is needed, and the decibel limit is probably even lower for children. He and his colleagues recommended a 60 decibels limit “based on our understanding of the literature available right now.”

“I don’t think people should be afraid of white noise machines, and for a lot of people that can be really helpful,” said Dr. Landon Duyka, an ear, nose, and throat doctor at Northwestern Medicine who was not associated with the study.

However, if parents are seeking to wean their children off these machines, Duyka recommends incrementally decreasing the noise level on the white noise machine until the child no longer needs it. First start with nap time and then implement these changes at nighttime, he said.

Erbele also recommends that parents measure the loudness of white noise machines by using the “Sound Level Meter” app developed by NIOSH. If parents want to keep using machines but reduce negative effects, they can move the machine further away from the child, and turn the machine off soon after the child falls asleep.

Finally, parents should continue to monitor their children for signs of hearing loss. Both doctors stated that a child not reacting to loud sounds, like a door slamming or dog barking, is concerning. A variety of hearing tests also exist for children, and a pediatrician can guide parents on which test could be helpful.

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(NEW YORK) — A new report by the World Health Organization, which looked broadly at global substance use for people 15 years and older, shows over three million people died from substance use in 2019 and 400 million people live with substance use disorders, which can have a number of negative health impacts.

“Substance use severely harms individual health, increasing the risk of chronic diseases, mental health conditions and tragically resulting in millions of preventable deaths every year. It places a heavy burden on families and communities, increasing exposure to accidents, injuries and violence,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a press release Tuesday.

According to the report, 2.6 million deaths were due to alcohol use and 206 million people had alcohol dependence. About two-thirds of deaths due to alcohol were among men and the highest number of deaths were in the European and African region, while current consumption was common among teenagers.

“On a global scale, [alcohol] is one of the most widely used drugs. Definitely having a negative impact on health,” Dr. Jennifer Ashton, ABC News chief medical correspondent, said on ABC’s Good Morning America on Wednesday.

Rates of alcohol deaths have declined since 2010, but the number of people who are dying from alcohol consumption “remains unacceptably high,” according to the report. Many of these deaths were attributed to chronic diseases due to alcohol such as heart disease and cancer.

“Alcohol is now considered a class one carcinogen, meaning known to cause cancer, on par with asbestos and tobacco,” Ashton said.

Younger people in particular are being negatively impacted by alcohol use

The highest percent of alcohol-attributable deaths in 2019 were among young people between the ages of 20 and 39 years old, and about 25% of all 15- to 19-year-olds said they currently drink alcohol. The highest rates of daily consumption in this age group were among teens in the European region and the Americas, where about 46% and 44% said they currently drink alcohol, respectively.

In addition to leading to alcohol use disorder, there are numerous negative health effects from moderate to heavy alcohol consumption, such as liver and heart disease, certain cancers and an increased risk of injuries, according to NIH MedlinePlus.

According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, moderate alcohol use is consuming two drinks or less in a day for men and one drink or less a day for women. A standard drink is 12 ounces of regular beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits or liquor.

Binge drinking for men is about five or more drinks within a few hours or about four or more drinks within a few hours for women. Heavy alcohol use is defined for men as having more than five drinks on any day or more than 15 drinks per week, and for women, is defined as having more than four drinks on any day or more than eight drinks per week.

“We have to really come to terms with the fact that there is no safe amount of alcohol and particularly for women,” Ashton said. “When you talk about breast cancer, even light alcohol consumption, less than one drink a day, associated causally with a 15% increased risk of breast cancer … that is stark.”

While men tend to drink more alcohol than women, women tend to metabolize alcohol at a slower rate, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This slower absorption makes women more susceptible to the negative effects of alcohol. Alcohol also affects the heart differently in men than in women. The CDC says that women who binge drink are at an increased risk of heart damage at lower levels of alcohol use and over a shorter period of time compared to men.

The report called for urgent action to reduce deaths due to alcohol and substance use through community awareness and engagement, the health care system and national policies.

“To build a healthier, more equitable society, we must urgently commit to bold actions that reduce the negative health and social consequences of alcohol consumption and make treatment for substance use disorders accessible and affordable,” Ghebreyesus said this week.

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(NEW YORK) — Multivitamin supplements have become a routine addition to many Americans’ diets, with as many as 1 in 3 U.S. adults consuming them regularly, but are these daily doses improving overall health and longevity?

A study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) published Wednesday found that multivitamins won’t help extend your life, with researchers reporting, “multivitamin use to improve longevity is not supported.”

The study analyzed data from nearly 400,000 adults over 20 years. Participants had a median age of 61.5 years old and were generally healthy, with no history of chronic diseases, according to the study published in JAMA Network Open.

The study found no evidence that daily multivitamin consumption reduced the risk of death from conditions such as heart disease or cancer.

Rather than living longer, otherwise healthy people who took daily multivitamins were slightly more likely (4%) than non-users to die in the study period, according to researchers.

Researchers reported nearly 165,000 deaths occurring during the follow-up period of the study, out of the initial group of 390,000 participants.

The study, however, did not analyze data from people with pre-existing vitamin deficiencies.

“What this study shows is that, generally, multivitamins aren’t going to help you live longer,” Dr. Jade A Cobern, MD, MPH, board-certified physician in pediatrics and general preventive medicine, told ABC News.

“Even though the cost of many multivitamins isn’t high, this is still an expense that many people can be spared from,” Cobern said.

Cobern explained that, when possible, it’s best to get vitamins and minerals from your diet, focusing on increasing vegetable intake and limiting red meat consumption, rather than relying solely on a supplement.

“We can all likely benefit from adding more vegetables and whole grains or legumes into our diets, reducing red meat intake, decreasing our sedentary time and reducing alcohol intake,” Cobern suggested.

While taking a multivitamin supplement does not increase longevity, Cobern said it’s important for people to ask their doctor to know if a multivitamin or specific vitamin supplement would be helpful in their case, based on their health history and diet.

“If a doctor prescribes a vitamin for someone, it’s important to take that medication,” Cobern said, adding, “I recommend everyone get routine health checkups and to talk to doctors about your dietary history and disclose any supplements you’re taking in those appointments.”

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(LANCASTER, Texas) — A Texas hospital is reportedly the first in the United States to be using a technology that allows doctors to visit patients via hologram.

Crescent Regional Hospital, located in Lancaster — about 13 miles south of Dallas — has installed “Holobox,” a 3D system that projects a life-sized hologram of a doctor so that they can perform real-time consults with patients at a clinic 30 miles away.

Designed by Dutch company Holoconnects, the display is 86 inches tall and only requires electricity and internet to connect, according to the company.

The box has anti-glare glass and a transparent LCD screen for a life-size and realistic holographic display as well as hi-fi speakers and a multi-touch operating system, according to Holoconnects’ website. The hologram features the image of people either in a pre-recorded video or in live real-time video.

“There’s so much artificial intelligence, robotic technology, so many things,” Crescent Regional Hospital CEO Raji Kumar told ABC affiliate WFAA in Dallas. “So, I’m super excited of being able to bring some of this technology to north Texas.”

Steve Stirling, managing director of Holoconnects for North America, said the company developed the “Dr-Patient Hologram Engagement System” to be used by medical facilities and health care practitioners to engage with patients remotely.

“It has the potential to revolutionize the access and sense of relationship between patients and their healthcare professionals,” Stirling told ABC News via email. “We can provide real-time, life-like access from distant locations which provide patients with access to levels of specialty care from anywhere in the world and also save doctors one of their most precious commodities — time!”

He believes Crescent Regional is the first hospital in the U.S. to be using Holobox.

Kumar said the technology is being used to help reduce doctors’ travel time between Crescent Regional and the hospital’s clinic in Farmers Branch, about 30 miles away.

Doctors can now speak to patients via hologram instead of driving between the hospital and clinic for pre-op, post-op or follow up appointments, according to WFAA.

“Our doctors on the north side of town don’t have to drive 30 miles to see one of their patients,” Kumar told WFAA. “They can just hop into the studio have the consult.”

She plans to install more studios throughout the hospital and in doctors’ offices so more physicians can do holographic visits. Kumar told WFAA she would also like to bring the technology to rural hospitals.

“I plan to give it as a service to rural hospitals,” Kumar said. “To say, ‘Hey, I’ve got all the specialists on board. I will give you the box, I’ll take care of the camera setups for my specialists.'”

“I’m actually trying to do a mini box in a mobile van, so I could take it to underserved areas, okay, where there’s no specialist help,” she added.

Stirling said he is hoping more hospitals will follow suit and roll out similar hologram programs. Holoconnects is working to deploy the Holobox Mini, which has a 22-inch interactive touch-screen display and can more easily be transported.

“Doctor shortage areas are everywhere, and health care facilities are closing so if we can do anything to help make access to care and engagement with healthcare professionals more productive and satisfying to both patients and doctors, this will be a very satisfying result for us,” he said.

Crescent Regional did not immediately reply to ABC News’ request for comment.

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(NEW YORK) — A major ice cream producer has recalled products sold by multiple brands due to potential listeria contamination, the Food and Drug Administration said.

The manufacturer — Totally Cool, Inc. of Owings Mills, Maryland — has recalled products from more than a dozen brands, including Friendly’s, Hershey’s Ice Cream, Jeni’s and the Frozen Farmer, due to the “possible health risk,” the FDA said.

No illnesses have been reported to date, the FDA said in its alert on Monday.

“Totally Cool, Inc. has ceased the production and distribution of the affected products due to FDA sampling which discovered the presence of Listeria monocytogenes,” the FDA said. “The company continues its investigation and is taking preventive actions. No other products produced by Totally Cool, Inc. are impacted by this recall.”

ABC News has reached out to Totally Cool for comment.

The full list of recalled products can be found here. They were distributed nationwide, available in retail locations and for direct delivery.

Consumers who have purchased any of the products are asked to return them for a full refund or throw them away.

Taharka Brothers Ice Cream, one of the impacted brands, said it outsourced production of two of its more popular ice cream flavors — honey graham and key lime pie — to Totally Cool.

“While no listeria has been detected in our ice cream, or any of the ice cream produced at Totally Cool, the FDA is requiring a full recall out of an abundance of caution,” Taharka said in a statement.

The company said it will begin making pints of the two flavors at its own factory “immediately.”

Chipwich was also among the brands included in the recall. Crave Better Foods said in a statement Monday that it operates a separate production line at the same Totally Cool facility and has issued a voluntary recall of its vanilla chocolate chip Chipwich ice cream cookie sandwiches “out of an abundance of caution and care for the product and its loyal fans.”

Crave Better Foods said it received a report from the Totally Cool facility about a “possible health issue” on a production line used to make frozen ice cream cakes.

Listeria monocytogenes can cause “serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems,” the FDA said.

Symptoms of listeria infection include high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, the FDA said. Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

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(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, issued a new advisory on Tuesday declaring gun violence a public health crisis.

In his announcement, Murthy also called for an evidence-based approach to public health change and a ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines for civilian use.

“Firearm violence is an urgent public health crisis that has led to loss of life, unimaginable pain, and profound grief for far too many Americans,” Murthy said in a statement.

Ten national medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Surgeons, American Public Health Association and the YWCA, issued statements of support in a press release distributed by the Office of the Surgeon General.

“Across the country, physicians everywhere treat patients and families afflicted by firearm violence,” said American Medical Association President Bruce A. Scott, MD, in a statement.

Gun violence is now the leading cause of death in the U.S. among kids and teens. Gun-related suicides have risen among all age groups from 2012 to 2022; the greatest rise has been among 10–14-year-olds, according to the advisory.

Rates of gun-related deaths among kids 1-19 years old in the U.S. are astronomically high and significantly higher than in other high-income countries.

“Pediatricians have long understood that gun violence is a public health threat to children and that its impact on families and communities can be devastating and long-lasting,” said American Academy of Pediatrics President Ben Hoffman, MD, FAAP, in a statement.

Over 50% of Americans say they or their family have experienced a firearm-related incident in their lifetime, and about 60% of U.S. adults say that they worry “sometimes,” “almost every day,” or “every day” about a loved one being a victim of firearm violence, according to the advisory.

The advisory also shows how certain groups are disproportionately impacted by gun violence, including people who are Black, American Indian, Alaskan Natives and veterans.

The advisory says the impact of firearm violence goes beyond deaths and injuries; it leads to cascading harm and collective trauma across society and threatens the mental and physical health of young people’s wellbeing, which warrants heightened attention and action.

“We don’t have to continue down this path, and we don’t have to subject our children to the ongoing horror of firearm violence in America. All Americans deserve to live their lives free from firearm violence, as well as from the fear and devastation that it brings. It will take the collective commitment of our nation to turn the tide on firearm violence,” Murthy said.

The advisory outlines an evidence-informed public health approach with prevention strategies that public health leaders and policymakers can consider to reduce and prevent firearm-related death and injury, including by increasing research investments and data collection, implementing risk reduction strategies and engaging communities.

The report also calls for a ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines for civilian use and says firearms should be treated like other consumer products to enhance and standardize safety.

“Gun violence is a national tragedy. It’s a serious public health problem that is highly preventable,” said American Public Health Association Executive Director Georges C. Benjamin, MD in a statement.

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(NEW YORK) — Middle-age and older adults with long-term loneliness are at higher risk of stroke than those who do not report being lonely, according to a new study published in the journal eClinicalMedicine on Monday.

Researchers found the risk of stroke among lonely adults was higher regardless of co-existing depressive symptoms or feelings of social isolation.

“Loneliness is increasingly considered a major public health issue. Our findings further highlight why that is,” lead author Yenee Soh, a research associate in the department of social and behavioral sciences at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said in a press release.

“Especially when experienced chronically, our study suggests loneliness may play an important role in stroke incidence, which is already one of the leading causes of long-term disability and mortality worldwide,” Soh continued.

Those who experienced situational loneliness — a temporary loneliness due to a change in circumstances — did not have an increased stroke risk, suggesting that the impact of loneliness on stroke risk occurs in the long term, according to the study.

The study used data from the University of Michigan’s Health and Retirement Study (HRS) survey that followed nearly 9,000 stroke-free adults who were aged 50 for 10 to 12 years.

Results showed those who experienced chronic loneliness had a 56% higher risk of stroke than those who consistently reported not being lonely, independent of social isolation, depressive symptoms, body mass index, physical activity and other health conditions.

Previous research has linked loneliness to an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, but the new study is one of the first large-scale, long-term studies to examine the association between loneliness changes and stroke risk over time.

“These study findings are consistent with other research that has shown that loneliness has been linked to [poorer] health,” Dr. Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brigham Young University and eminent researcher on the health effects of loneliness — who was not involved with the study — told ABC News.

“It’s also consistent with other research that shows that the detrimental effects seem to be most associated when it is persistent or chronic over time,” she continued. “This study because it looked at loneliness at multiple times to determine whether there were changes, and whether it was consistent over time [and] found that persistent levels were associated with the worst outcomes.”

Participants who only had baseline measurements of loneliness saw an occurrence of 1,237 strokes during the follow-up period from 2006 to 2018. Participants who completed two loneliness assessments and reported loneliness both times saw an occurrence of 601 strokes during the same follow-up period.

Each group’s stroke risk was analyzed in the context of their loneliness while controlling for other health and behavioral risk factors, including social isolation and depressive symptoms, which are closely related to — but distinct from — loneliness.

“Repeat assessments of loneliness may help identify those who are chronically lonely and are therefore at a higher risk for stroke,” Soh said in the press release. “If we fail to address their feelings of loneliness, on a micro and macro scale, there could be profound health consequences.”

“Importantly, these interventions must specifically target loneliness, which is a subjective perception and should not be conflated with social isolation,” she added.

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(NEW YORK) — An upcoming report by the American Heart Association estimates that closing gaps in women’s heart health could add 1.6 million years of quality of life and boost the economy by $28 billion dollars a year by 2040.

The report calls for earlier diagnosis and more treatment in addition to specific focus in pregnancy, menopause and among Black women to effectively close the gender gap in heart health for over 60 million women who are living with heart disease in the United States.

The report will be published later this month in the journal Circulation and builds on previous research done in partnership with the McKinsey Health Institute and World Economic Forum, the AHA said.

ABC News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton, a board-certified physician in obstetrics and gynecology and obesity medicine, reported this dire call to action Monday in an exclusive first look on ABC’s Good Morning America.

“The American Heart Association is really calling loudly, yelling in fact, for closing that gender gap when you look at heart disease,” Ashton said.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women, but there are some key areas that disproportionately impact women compared to their male counterparts. Women are more likely to die from a heart attack than men, and women 45-65 years old have the greatest rise in high blood pressure, according to the report.

The AHA report calls for an approach across the life course to effectively close these gaps and highlights two important life stages for women: pregnancy and menopause, “two critically important hormonal times in a woman’s life,” Ashton said.

“It’s time to connect the dots on these hormonal times,” she added.

Pregnancy places added stress on a woman’s heart and can be associated with health conditions like high blood pressure and gestational diabetes, which increase a woman’s risk of heart disease in addition to poor pregnancy outcomes such as pre-eclampsia and premature birth.

Many preventable maternal deaths are due to heart disease. The AHA report calls for prevention of maternal deaths through better access to care, treatment and monitoring during the time surrounding pregnancy.

Women are also at increased risk of having heart disease during and after menopause. Research has shown that women with severe menopausal hot flashes have a higher risk of heart disease than similarly aged men. The AHA report calls for improved research to better understand this increased risk and to help find better treatments.

Disparities also exist among women. More Black women have heart disease than non-Black women and have greater rates of complications from heart disease. The report calls for an end to racial disparities in heart health by recognizing role of structural racism, addressing biases and health-related social needs, as well as tailoring the healthcare system to better care for these communities.

“We have a lot of work to do,” Ashton said.

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