🍈🍈Tits Up (Literally) This is Important:
Scientists Can Now Target Dormant Breast Cancer Cells

🩷“Wiping Out Breast Cancer Re-entry Mode”
What to Know: A team at the University of Pennsylvania discovered a way to identify dormant breast cancer cells and eliminate them with repurposed drugs—potentially stopping recurrence in its tracks. Read More Here.

🥬“Tiny Greens, Big Nutritional Bang”
What to Know: Cereal microgreens are surprisingly nutrient-dense and sustainable—promising eco-friendly, vitamin-packed additions to your plate. They may be small, but these greens pack a punch—and they’re chic AF. Swap out wilted kale for microgreens. Read More Here.

‍❤️‍💋‍When Cancer Wins, Desire Gets Lost”
What to Know: Survivors of gynecological cancers often face a disappearance of sexual desire—and the healthcare system rarely brings it up. Post-cancer care should include intimacy, not just scans. Let’s normalize all wellness talk, including the sexy bits. Read More Here.

🤷‍♀️ How TF Does your Cycle Work, Anyway? Hormones 101

Are you new here? Grab your latte and let’s make hormones make sense. Here’s an evidence-based, no-nonsense tour of what’s running the menstrual show.

🩷Phases & the hormone choreography

• Menstruation (≈ days 1–5): Estrogen and progesterone are low → the uterine lining sheds. Office on Women's Health

• Follicular (≈ days 1–13): FSH nudges follicles to grow; estradiol rises and rebuilds the lining. Sustained high estradiol flips to positive feedback. NCBI

• Ovulation (~ day 14 in a 28-day cycle): The LH surge (with a small FSH bump) pops the mature follicle—egg released. StatPearls

• Luteal / secretory (≈ days 15–28): The empty follicle becomes the corpus luteum → progesterone climbs, stabilizing and “secretory-transforming” the endometrium; both hormones fall if there’s no pregnancy, and the next period begins. NCBIACOG
  

  

What each key hormone does

• Estradiol (E2): Rebuilds the endometrium; at high, sustained levels it sparks the LH surge. Also influences cervical mucus and many whole-body systems (bone, brain, skin). NCBI

• Progesterone (P4): Post-ovulation star—stabilizes the uterine lining, slightly raises basal body temperature, and keeps the uterus “chill.” Falls → period starts. NCBI

• LH: Triggers ovulation and luteinization (corpus luteum formation). That’s what home ovulation kits are sniffing out. StatPearls

• FSH: Recruits and matures follicles; modest peak early follicular and a smaller one near ovulation. NCBI

What’s “normal” for timing?

A normal menstrual cycle for many adults is 24–38 days (not everyone is a textbook 28). Ovulation usually happens about 14 days before the next period—so it shifts with your total cycle length. Office on Women's HealthACOG

Stay Abreast Take:

Your brain and ovaries are in constant conversation. Estradiol builds, progesterone seals the deal, and a one-day LH fireworks show kicks off ovulation. Cycles aren’t moral reports—they’re vital signs. Track yours, watch for patterns, and if timing or symptoms go rogue (very heavy, very painful, or cycles routinely <24 or >38 days), loop in your clinician. Office on Women's Health

Sources: ACOG explainer on the menstrual cycle; StatPearls/NCBI on cycle physiology, ovulation, and progesterone; NICHD fact sheet on menstruation; U.S. OWH on normal cycle length. ACOGNCBI+1StatPearlsNICHDOffice on Women's Health

🍉Meal Prep: Introducing the Adult Lunchable
It’s everything you want it to be, but elevated. She’s grown. She’s satisfying. She’s the meal you’ll prep for your cycle health and actually want to eat this week. Camille Style’s lunchables are 🔥. Check them out and make your own!

Stay Abreast, Friends✌️

The Stay Abreast Team