38 papers
Sexual and reproductive health encompasses the full spectrum of physical and emotional well-being related to our bodies, relationships, and families. This vital field explores everything from contraception and pregnancy care to preventing infections and ensuring safe, consensual experiences for people of all backgrounds. It is a dynamic area of science where new discoveries constantly reshape how we understand our own biology and protect our futures.
At Gist.Science, we monitor every new preprint uploaded to medRxiv within this category to ensure you stay ahead of the curve. We process these emerging studies by transforming complex medical data into clear, plain-language explanations alongside detailed technical summaries, making cutting-edge research accessible to everyone without sacrificing scientific accuracy.
Below are the latest preprints in sexual and reproductive health, ready for you to explore.
This study of 125 young women reveals that while those with premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) do not show broad objective cognitive decline, they experience significantly higher psychological distress and specific deficits in verbal analogical reasoning, underscoring the urgent need for proactive emotional support and targeted cognitive monitoring in early adulthood.
This study of 1,073 women across five Latin American countries demonstrates that health-related quality of life significantly declines with the severity of HPV-related diagnoses, particularly in cervical cancer, while also varying by country due to sociodemographic and cultural factors.
This longitudinal study of aging men demonstrates that lower serum total testosterone levels are independently associated with elevated levels of inflammatory markers C-Reactive Protein and Interleukin-6 over time, suggesting testosterone may serve as a useful biomarker for chronic inflammatory states.
This study found that while the 4CMenB vaccine for gonorrhoea prevention is highly acceptable among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) and healthcare professionals, successful implementation and equitable uptake depend on overcoming structural barriers through accessible community-based delivery, clear communication, and sustained system-level support.
This study demonstrates that injectable hormonal contraceptives (DMPA) reprogram genital lipid metabolism by depleting structural membrane lipids and increasing triglycerides, likely through interactions with the microbiome, thereby weakening the epithelial barrier and increasing susceptibility to HIV infection, whereas oral contraceptives containing estrogen exhibit contrasting metabolic effects.
In a secondary analysis of a randomized trial involving women living with HIV, the study found that while the copper intrauterine device (C IUC) induced broad and sustained increases in cervicovaginal cytokines among women on antiretroviral therapy, the levonorgestrel intrauterine system (LNG IUS) caused minimal inflammatory changes, suggesting LNG IUS is a less inflammatory contraceptive option for this population.
This Finnish total population study reveals that while dizygotic female twins exhibit modestly higher fertility and a greater likelihood of twin births compared to singletons and monozygotic twins, these sex- and zygosity-specific differences are confined to the twin generation and do not persist in subsequent generations.
This census-based study of Nepal's marginalized Raute community reveals that while over half of married women utilize family planning, primarily through injectables, there is a critical lack of awareness regarding safe abortion policies and negligible access to these services, highlighting an urgent need for culturally tailored, mobile outreach and legal literacy programs to improve reproductive health equity.
This multicenter study demonstrates that PacBio HiFi long-read whole genome sequencing serves as a comprehensive single-test diagnostic tool for couples with unexplained subfertility or recurrent pregnancy loss, identifying clinically significant genetic variants in approximately 10% of cases while characterizing diverse genomic variations.
This sequential explanatory mixed-methods study in Nepal reveals that while a majority of adolescents report satisfaction with public health services, underlying issues such as judgmental provider attitudes and privacy concerns significantly influence their contraceptive use, highlighting the critical need to strengthen health system factors like confidentiality and appointment accessibility.