The Lowdown’s July Newsletter

Hi everyone,

We’ve haven’t sent one of our monthly newsletters for a while, that’s because we’ve been testing out sending fortnightly emails showcasing some of the amazing findings from our review data. How have you found them, and have you missed our monthly round ups? As always, I would love to hear your feedback! 

This month our newsletter is sponsored by the team at Daye – a female-founded gynae health brand with an amazing range of sustainable gynae health products and services. I met their founder Valentina way back in 2020, and have been pretty blown away by how much the Daye team are constantly innovating and launching new things in women’s health, including a vaginal health range – more info below 👇

Things we learnt recently… 🤯

DIY HPV tests are on the way, and this could boost the amount of people who test by 1 million! 

Once you’ve attended a cervical screening examination with a nurse or doctor, the next step is to test the sample for HPV in the lab. HPV is a common virus spread through intimate skin to skin and sexual contact and 80%+ of us will have it at some point in our lives. There are loads of different types of HPV known as ‘strains’; some types can cause changes to the cells in the cervix, which can over time lead to cervical cancer, while other types can cause warts. 

A trial by researchers from Kings College showed that offering people a self-sample HPV test increased uptake, vs. attending a standard screening. This is great news, as the NHS reported that 1.19 million people in 2022-2023 did not turn up to their cervical screening tests in person. Access is so important – and that’s why our friends at Daye have launched their very own Daye Diagnostic Tampon which can detect 14 high-risk HPV strains, giving you a non-invasive way to check your HPV status from the comfort of your own home.

All you need to do is wear the tampon for 20 minutes and remove, then send it back for testing. This can be used in addition to your routine NHS cervical screening, but you’re still recommended to go for your NHS tests. Daye’s own research has found that their tampon accuracy is on a par with standard cervical screening, with an overall accuracy of 95.1%. And from their focus groups, most women preferred the Daye tampon over a vaginal swab self test.

We’ve partnered with Daye to offer you the chance to win a premium gynae care Daye bundle, the winner will receive this Diagnostic Tampon (Vaginal Microbiome, STI and HPV), a full range of period products, a personalised Pelvic & Period Pain plan, 30-minute consultation with Daye’s sexual & reproductive health nurse, and 30-day supply of ProViotics.

Our health hub has had a glow up💅

After five years of user testing, I can confidently say one of the most consistent pieces of feedback we receive is ‘I wish there was a search button on your blog’. Finally, I’m excited to announce that we have built this! 

In case you didn’t know, our health hub has over 300 pieces of jargon free, medically reviewed content that give you the lowdown on everything from cervical ectropion to period poo. I’m so proud that we have built such an expansive home of reproductive health content that informs millions of people around the world every year 🌍.

Our content team has also been hard at work writing some fantastic new articles on topics such as fibroids, adenomyosis and more. Now all you need to do is search for your question and you’ll get your answer. Chat GPT eat your heart out. 

Heavy periods affect 37% of adults and 1 in 20 of us see our GP about heavy bleeding each year😞

To change that, we need your help. We’re working with researchers at the University of Aberdeen, who are seeking your thoughts on whether a clinical study on a new heavy-period treatment is worthwhile. 

To get involved, we’d love you to take this very short anonymous survey about heavy periods and your thoughts on a potential study.

In the news…📰🌍

👄A new book about The Power of Hormones has found that women’s kisses ‘taste sweeter’ during ovulation because our saliva is higher in sugar. Apparently during the cycle the hormones change in the female body, and so you exchange that information with others when you kiss. 

🤰Building on the theme of saliva, I was interested to see the launch of a new saliva pregnancy test a few months back. For anyone who has tried to conceive, peeing on a stick or in a cup to dip a stick, is messy. Have you tried it yet? Would love to hear your thoughts.

💉The FSRH recently shared their guidance on the pill and weight loss injections. Manufacturers of the weight loss brand Mounjaro found that it can reduce the concentrations of hormones in your body from the contraceptive pill. The FSRH recommend switching contraceptives as Mounjaro could make the pill ineffective. Watch Dr Fran’s video to find out more.  

Review of the month

We’ve decided to start a new segment in our newsletter to spotlight our favourite reviews.

Drumroll please.. 

Introducing….Gravel Tits🪨🪨

Post of the month📱

The election on the 4th July caused quite a buzz, and we ended up going viral talking about Nigel Farage and the shocking things he and the rest of the reform party have to say/or not say about women’s health. 

We even got reported on Tiktok for sharing the news 👀

That’s all for this month. Speak soon!