CeMCOR Holiday Newsletter
This year has brought CeMCOR, and all who have interacted with us, lots of new chaos (COVID-19 vaccinations, Delta/Omicron, heat domes and atmospheric rivers), plus lots familiar from 2020—difficult, isolating, and frustrating lives!
The
Menstrual cycle and
Ovulation
Study (
MOS2)
despite needing three different leaders and starting during the pandemic, managed to collect data over 1.2
menstrual cycles for 125 enrolled women. They recorded
daily Menstrual Cycle Diary© and
Quantitative Basal Temperature© data,
weekly urines, and 3 saliva samples. The urines went to Health Canada for study of
environmental contami-nants for comparison with data from
MOS, an identically designed study from 2006-8 we performed (400+ with complete data). We had to begin MOS2
remotely (mailed materials) doing everything via emails, calls and lots of Zoom meetings.
Since September’s study end, we have learned that
MOS and
MOS2 participants were similar in cycle length and body weight. However,
ovulation in MOS2 was markedly disrupted! Stay tuned—this invisible change appears related to the multiple stresses of the pandemic—
we hope to publish this spring.
We earned a grant from the Women’s Health Research Institute (WHRI) for an innovative therapy study for women living with
androgenic
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (
PCOS). After many delays, we began local recruitment in November. We are breaking new and important ground with 40 women, each her own control, studied over six-months while taking
cyclic progesterone and
spironolactone.
We also celebrated publication of a paper describing the
interest in sex of 61 healthy
premenopausal women over 1-year of ovulatory cycles. Allison Macbeth, a sex/cycle educator, began as a CeMCOR volunteer in 2013, presented results at the Endocrine Society in 2014, and 8 su
bmissions later, finally published them in
Women’s Reproductive Health this year. Why delays? Our data did not confirm a pre-ovulatory sexiness most reviewers expected—instead we found that women’s interest in sex related to
feelings of self-worth and
energy. Click
here to read.
Finally, we celebrate several new, young CeMCOR investigators—reviewing
progesterone therapy for
PCOS, an internet survey of women’s attitudes toward
PCOS therapy, and MOS2 measurement of the breast’s
areolar diameter in 70+ women. We are also proud of CeMCOR Scientific Advisory Council members,
Lori Brotto PhD,
psychologist, UBC Ob-Gyn Professor, and head of WHRI, for winning the UBC Excellence in Mentoring Early Career Faculty award; and
Helena Teede, MD, PhD, Monash University
Endocrinology Professor for the Endocrine Society’s Outstanding Leadership award and being inducted a Member of the Order of Australia.
CeMCOR sees hope ahead. Wishing you a relaxing/refreshing and healthful time with loved ones.
