Patients with endometriosis around the world are still being given controversial advice to “treat” their condition by getting pregnant‚ despite a lack of evidence that it actually works‚ new data reveals. The survey of over 3‚000 patients with a medical diagnosis of endometriosis was run by a team from the University of Adelaide‚ the University of Sydney‚ and the charity EndoActive.Endometriosis is not a rare condition – the World Health Organization estimates that it affects around 10 percent of all females of reproductive age. Despite its prevalence‚ however‚ and as we have unfortunately seen so frequently when it comes to female reproductive health‚ a veil of misinformation and disbelief tends to surround the condition. In cases of endometriosis‚ the tissue that normally forms the lining of the womb‚ which is shed during a menstrual period‚ grows around other organs in the body. Symptoms vary greatly depending on the location and extent of the abnormal tissue growth‚ but typically include extremely painful periods‚ chronic pelvic pain‚ pain during sex‚ and bowel issues. Endometriosis can also lead to infertility.According to the authors of this new study‚ even with these issues that can negatively impact quality of life‚ diagnosis is delayed by an average of over six years.In recent times‚ more research into the condition has started to emerge‚ including new insights into the possible causes. But there’s no cure as yet‚ and the latest research shows how patients who may have waited years for a diagnosis are sometimes being given medical advice with no evidence to support it. The team surveyed 3‚347 people with a clinical diagnosis of endometriosis‚ asking about their patient experiences. Over half of them (1‚892) revealed that they had been advised to try and get pregnant‚ with 36 percent of these being told that it would cure their condition.In 90 percent of these cases‚ these recommendations were given by a healthcare professional‚ such as a gynecologist. “Pregnancy or having a baby isn’t a treatment for endometriosis and this advice from health professionals can have negative impacts on those who receive it‚” said co-author and fertility expert Professor Louise Hull in a statement.“While a third of the respondents felt the advice was appropriate given their situation at the time‚ many other women in this survey reported feeling too young to have a baby and felt stressed and pressured after being given this inappropriate albeit well-intentioned advice.”Some of the survey responses documented in the authors’ paper‚ divided into seven broad themes‚ give an insight into the impact that this advice can have on patients.Some respondents said they already knew that pregnancy was not an evidence-based treatment for endometriosis‚ or rejected the advice because it was unsuitable. “I was 13. It wasn’t appropriate‚” said one patient. “As bad as I felt I knew in my heart I wouldn’t be well enough to take care of a baby. I could barely walk [two and a half] weeks out of the month‚” said another.Others took the advice to heart‚ which for some had a negative effect on their mental health. “I became obsessed with babies‚ pregnant women‚ getting pregnant‚ the thought that I would never be able to give birth to my own children‚” read one response‚ while another confided‚ “It was a nightmare for me and something that impacted me greatly on an emotional level.”Some of the patients also described the effect it had on their relationships: “It ended up ruining my relationship as I felt a huge pressure to have kids young and my partner couldn’t understand the intense conversation at a young age.”The researchers are now calling for better education about endometriosis treatment among healthcare providers.Sylvia Freedman‚ study co-author and co-founder of EndoActive‚ said‚ “EndoActive supports health professionals providing fertility advice in appropriate circumstances particularly as endo may impact fertility. However‚ pregnancy advice‚ especially in relation to curing or treating this condition is inappropriate because babies are not treatment options and the advice is not evidence-based.”The study is published in the journal BMC Women’s Health. 

A new study has found a slightly worrying problem with the rail network in the UK; its vulnerability to space weather.Solar storms are a pretty common occurrence – a moderate storm took place last week‚ for example‚ after a large hole opened up on the Sun's surface. There's nothing the Sun loves more than being hot and flinging plasma in our direction.The storms are generally nothing to worry about‚ unless you are particularly averse to looking at the beauty of the northern lights‚ or minor problems with power grids‚ and radio communication.A team from Lancaster University‚ UK‚ attempted to discover how geomagnetic storms could interfere with electricity transmission and distribution grids. Of particular concern was signaling‚ as there are more than 50‚000 signaling track circuits in the UK‚ where rail signals are carried by an electric circuit."Disruption to railway signaling can happen when geomagnetic disturbances induce electric currents in the rails that interfere with the electrical circuits used to detect trains‚" the team explains in their paper."Crucially‚ our research suggests that space weather is able to flip a signal in either direction‚ turning a red signal green or a green signal red‚" physics PhD researcher Cameron Patterson added in a statement. "This is obviously very significant from a safety perspective."The team found that "wrong side" failures – particularly dangerous as it turns a red signal to a green – occurred at lower geoelectric field thresholds than "right side" failures‚ where a green signal is turned red. However‚ the conditions that cause "right side" are less complicated‚ so the team was unable to determine which error is more common during moderate geomagnetic storms. “By building a computer model of the signalling track circuits using realistic specifications for the various components of the system‚ we found that space weather events capable of triggering faults in these track circuits are expected in the UK every few decades‚" Patterson added.Larger 1-in-100-year storms‚ like the Carrington Event‚ would cause widespread problems on the lines studied by the team. Unfortunately‚ these storms look like they occur more frequently than we thought. "It is also important to point out that in the event of severe space weather‚ railway signaling will not be the only system affected‚" the team adds. "Power supply networks‚ communications‚ Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are all susceptible‚ many of which will also impact the safe and smooth operation of the railway network‚ regardless of the countless affects to other areas."The team proposes conducting real-world tests to confirm the models‚ placing equipment along the track to monitor the effect of solar storms.The study is published in the journal Space Weather.

In a previous epoch‚ Tim Alberta was a reporter for National Review‚ one of too many NR cubs who later joined the liberal-media zoo. Alberta is now at The Atlantic‚ one of America’s most intense producers of frothing leftist drivel. It seems like every leftist network has welcomed Alberta to trash conservative Christians through his latest book‚ The Kingdom‚ the Power‚ and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism. It’s touted as Alberta’s “deeply personal examination of the divisions that threaten to destroy the American evangelical movement. Evangelical Christians are perhaps the most polarizing—and least understood—people living in America today.” Wait. No one in these interviews asks about the polarizing cultural extreme on the libertine left. That extreme is the leftist media’s address‚ at the corner of GLAAD Street and Planned Parenthood Avenue. Interviewers loved Alberta’s funeral story. On the PBS NewsHour‚ anchor Geoff Bennett began: “I asked Tim about a searing moment he describes‚ when‚ at his own father's funeral‚ a church elder admonished him for not fully embracing Donald Trump as God's chosen leader.” Is this an exact quote? Alberta answered: “Once I was able to process it‚ because it was a surreal moment‚ having just buried my father -- you're in this state of mourning and of shock‚ and not sure‚ is this even real?...If I could be treated this way‚ if I could be regarded as a member of the deep state‚ as an enemy of the church‚ as an apostate -- if I could be treated that way‚ then how are we treating those outside the church?” On NPR’s Fresh Air‚ host Terry Gross also loved the funeral tale: “Let me back up and say that Rush Limbaugh started quoting you‚ and assailing you on his radio show. What was he saying about you?” Alberta said “Rush Limbaugh was on his show describing some of my unflattering characterizations of Donald Trump and of the evangelical movement. Trump himself was tweeting about my book. I was getting a lot of threats‚ a lot of nasty email‚ a lot of criticism from right-wing media.”  So “people were asking me if I was really still a Christian‚ if I was on the right side of good versus evil…and all the while‚ of course‚ my dad is in a box a hundred feet away.” Gross then asked‚ “If they saw that in you‚ the son of their pastor‚ you‚ who many of them had known your entire life‚ that -- what about people who they don't know? How easy is it to dehumanize them and just make them into the enemy?” Funerals shouldn’t be a setting for political combat‚ which is why they love this funhouse portrait of conservative Christians. But Alberta wrote this book to argue that Trump-supporting Christians are apostates and enemies of democracy. PBS and NPR and the rest “dehumanize” conservatives routinely. Alberta was bitterly angry at his pastor father for voting for Trump in 2016.  So what kind of Christian is a Hillary Clinton backer? Why is his pro-abortion “division” of evangelicalism not “threatening to destroy” it? Alberta and his media helpers can’t seem to find the cultural context of our times. The arrival of “same-sex marriage‚” naturally followed by twerking drag-queen performances for children‚ and graphically sexual books in school libraries‚ and “gender-affirming care” for minors aren’t reasons for Christians to feel something is slipping away? Is nothing "extremist" about that? Do Alberta’s model Christians offer any remedy or resistance to these trends? No one asked.

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