Jessamyn Stanley doesn't hold back when it comes to being honest about her body. The yoga teacher and body positivity advocate has been vocal about her struggle with self-acceptance in a culture that values smaller bodies, as well as her battle with body shamers online. Now, Stanley is sharing her advice on how women can make peace with their bodies.

RELATED: Jessamyn Stanley Poses in Lingerie to Share an Insanely Candid Close-Up of Her Stretch Marks

“I have received so many negative comments about my body in my life, I cannot even begin to list all of them,” Stanley tells Health. “They go from 'you’re fat,' 'you’re ugly,' 'you’re disgusting,' 'you’re promoting obesity,' 'you’re a horrible person.' Everything you can think of to say, and then more specifically to a fat person, has been said to me.”

Stanley explains that despite all the negativity she’s received, she’s working to normalize conversations around taboo body subjects—like the natural body changes and issues women are often taught to see as bad or shameful.

RELATED: Jessamyn Stanley’s Secret to Ignoring Haters Who Call Her ‘Fat,’ ‘Disgusting,’ and More

“When I talk about my thigh chafing, and people were like, ‘It’s cool to talk about our thighs being chafed?’ And I’m like, 'we all got that,'” she explains. “Arm fat, as you get older, I do arm work all the time. That’s just a little bat wing thing. It’s happening, it’s a part of getting older." 

While vocalizing these subject matters is important, she says, she really wants people to know that body changes are a natural part of growing and aging.  

RELATED: How Instagram Star Jessamyn Stanley Is Defying Yoga Stereotypes

“We’re taught to think that our bodies aren’t supposed to change. That's the patriarchy," she says. “That’s who’s making you think your body doesn’t need to change. Your body evolves because you evolve. We grow from the new moon to the crescent to the full moon, and then to the waning moon. We are always in this massive period of transition and that has to be honored. Your body is meant to change.”

“It’s meant to shift, it’s meant to grow. The more that we can lean into that, just collectively, the happier we can all be.”

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Lately it seems like more mothers are embracing their natural postpartum bodies. Yet the pressure for new moms to “bounce back” to their pre-pregnancy size and shape is still hard to escape. Still, there are trailblazers out there—like Canada-based photographer Meagan Elemans. She's using her platform to create a dialogue that encourages women to love their after-baby bodies. 

Elemans, who is also a mom, captured the reality of postpartum life in a raw photo series. Since September, she's turned her Instagram account into a gallery of stunning photos of new mothers and their children, displaying the stretch marks and loose skin that come with motherhood. 

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“Going through my own postpartum journey inspired these photos,” Elemans tells Health of the series, which features more than 30 photos. “Postpartum hit me like a ton of bricks. I felt really unprepared and really sad how no one talks about how hard the days after pregnancy are. I heard all about pregnancy but not enough about trying to breastfeed, the soreness, the fear of intimacy, and my soft, empty body.”

Elemans explains that the pressure put on a woman to get her pre-pregnancy body back is harmful to her mental health. She wanted to create a series that showed real women’s bodies after birth, encouraging women to embrace their new shapes. 

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“Women go through an evolution after birth, I think especially after the first one—and your postpartum body is a part of that,” she says. “During my last few days of pregnancy, I finally got stretch marks. I remember feeling so devastated…but I’m like, for what? My body housed my perfect daughter and I would go through war for her again and again. So the photos were really an opportunity for me to join with fellow mamas and see and understand that the postpartum body varies so much, and that there really isn’t a normal.” 

RELATED: Influencer Shares Body Transformation Photos to Prove the 'Journey Isn't Linear'

Elemans hopes other women are inspired by her series, and that it will help them feel more comfortable in their own skin. 

"I want to get this series under the eyes of other mamas, so that they can see how much bodies vary," says Elemans. "The confidence of these women I know has inspired me to be proud of my new form and feel no shame about it. I want women to say, 'Oh I have stretch marks too,' or 'I have loose skin too.' I’m not the only one and I deserve to be seen in this new light."

Check out the rest of the photos in the series on her Instagram page. 

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A US veteran who received a total penis and scrotum transplant last year is faring better than anyone expected, his doctors say.

In March 2018, the soldier who was severely wounded after stepping on a bomb in Afghanistan underwent the world’s first total penis and scrotum transplant. A team of 11 surgeons at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore performed the 14-hour procedure.

‘Normal sensation’

The tissue, from a deceased donor, included a penis, scrotum (without testicles) and part of the abdominal wall.

About a month after the procedure, the recipient – who wishes to remain anonymous – said that he “finally felt more normal”.

Now, in the New England Journal of Medicine, his surgical team reports on his progress.

“His return of function has actually exceeded our expectations,” said Dr Richard Redett, a professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Hopkins.

About 18 months after the transplant, the patient was able to urinate without problems, have normal sensation in the penis, and have “near-normal” erections and the ability to achieve orgasm.

With the help of limb prostheses to replace his amputated legs, he is now living independently and in school full-time.

“He says he feels ‘whole’ again,” Redett said.

Non-lifesaving transplants

That’s not to say there are no concerns going forward. As with any transplant, Redett said, there will continue to be risks. Transplant patients need to stay on immune-suppressing medication to prevent the body from attacking the donor tissue – and that leaves them vulnerable to infections.

Because of those risks, there has long been debate about doing transplants that are not lifesaving – including hand, arm and face transplants for people who’ve suffered severe injuries.

But while those transplants are not a matter of life or death, they are “life-changing”, Redett said.

The veteran in this case has described the anguish he suffered after his injuries. Speaking last year to the New York Times, he said, “I felt like it banished me from a relationship. Like, that’s it, you’re done, you’re by yourself for the rest of your life. I struggled with even viewing myself as a man for a long time.”

Prior to this case, there had been only four successful penile transplants reported worldwide. (They did not involve the scrotum). One was performed in 2016, at Massachusetts General Hospital — the first penis transplant done in the United States. In that case, the recipient was a man whose penis was removed due to cancer.

Dr Curtis Cetrulo was one of the lead surgeons at Mass General. He said that at about three years out, that patient is faring similarly well.

Is it worth the risk?

“In this case, there was a devastating trauma,” Cetrulo said of the Hopkins patient. “I think it’s amazing he’s seeing these outcomes.”

He, too, pointed out the risks of long-term immunosuppression – but said they have to be weighed against the benefits.

“Some people might say this type of transplant is life-altering, but not lifesaving, so is it worth the risk?” Cetrulo said. “I think our patients answer that question.”

The first reported penis transplant was done in 2006 in China, but it had to be reversed weeks later, Redett noted.

In recent years, there has been renewed interest in advancing the procedure, as more and more soldiers come home from the Middle East with devastating blast injuries.

Some tissues not included

Redett said the US Department of Defense has estimated that close to 1 400 veterans have genitourinary injuries they sustained in Iraq and Afghanistan. But it’s not clear what portion could potentially be candidates for a penile transplant in the future.

Finding donor tissue is also challenging, according to Redett. His patient waited over a year for a viable donor.

When people sign up to be an organ donor, Redett said, that does not include all body tissues – and the penis and scrotum are not on the list. So right now, the only way to procure those tissues is to approach families of a deceased potential donor in the hospital.

The cost of the penis and scrotum transplant was estimated to be between $300 000 and $400 000 (between about R4.4 million and R5.9 million). But in this case, Hopkins footed the bill and the surgical team worked for free.

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Four addicts will have brains “hacked” to control their addictions in the first trial of its kind in the US.

Lightning is one of the most unpredictable phenomena in nature. It regularly kills people and animals and sets fire to homes and forests. It keeps aircraft grounded and damages power lines, wind turbines and solar-panel installations. However, little is known about what triggers lightning, and there is no simple technology for predicting when and where lightning will strike the ground.

In 1992, Teen Talk Barbie was released with the controversial voice fragment, “Math class is hard.” While the toy’s release met with public backlash, this underlying assumption persists, propagating the myth that women do not thrive in science, technology, engineering and mathematic (STEM) fields due to biological deficiencies in math aptitude.

The latest version of the so-called artificial pancreas system helped people with type 1 diabetes gain even better control of their blood sugar levels than current technology does, a new study reports.

The device combines an insulin pump, a continuous glucose monitor and a computer algorithm. The system measures blood sugar levels and delivers insulin automatically when levels rise. Insulin delivery is temporarily stopped if blood sugar levels drop too low.

Easing the daily burden

People using the artificial pancreas were able to have good blood sugar control for almost an extra three hours each day compared to using just an insulin pump and a continuous glucose monitor.

“People with type 1 diabetes have to think every day about their blood sugar and how they need to manage it. Automated delivery systems can make a big difference and help ease the daily burden of managing blood sugar,” said study lead author Dr Sue Brown, an endocrinologist and associate professor at the University of Virginia.

Type 1 diabetes develops when the body’s immune system – which normally protects you from disease – mistakenly turns against the healthy cells that produce insulin. Insulin is a hormone needed to control blood sugar levels.

People with type 1 diabetes have to replace that lost insulin – either with shots or through an insulin pump. But getting the right amount can be tricky. Too much insulin can send blood sugar dangerously low, while too little can set people up for serious diabetes complications.

That means people with type 1 diabetes spend a lot of time testing and adjusting their insulin levels throughout the day. That’s where the artificial pancreas can help, by taking over some of this work.

These systems aren’t yet completely automated, though. Diabetics still need to count the carbohydrates in their food and enter that information into their insulin pump.

A more normal way of life

But it will control blood sugar levels, giving more insulin when needed and pulling back when there’s enough.

“This system can give a more normal way of life,” said study co-author Boris Kovatchev, director of the University of Virginia Center for Diabetes Technology. Kovatchev led the team that developed the system.

Only one artificial pancreas system is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration – the Medtronic 670G. This study didn’t compare the two systems, but the authors said there are important differences in the algorithms controlling each device.

The latest study used Control-IQ artificial pancreas system. It uses an insulin pump made by Tandem Diabetes and a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) from Dexcom.

For the study, 168 people with type 1 diabetes were randomly chosen to wear either the new artificial pancreas system or an insulin pump and glucose monitor alone. The patients were between the ages of 14 and 71.

The study lasted six months. Both Brown and Kovatchev said they didn’t ask participants to change their diet or other lifestyle factors.

No severe low blood sugar events

The average daily time in-range (a blood sugar between 70 and 180 milligrams per decilitre) averaged 61% at the start of the study for those using the Control-IQ. During the trial, that rose to 71%. That meant participants had good blood sugar control for an additional 2.6 hours a day.

The group who just used an insulin pump and CGM had no change in their in-range time.

There were no severe low blood sugar events. One person in the Control-IQ group had a complication called diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), because the site where the insulin pump tubing goes into the skin was blocked and insulin couldn’t get through, Brown explained.

Dr Mary Pat Gallagher is director of the Pediatric Diabetes Center at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone in New York City. She said the newest device is more user-friendly than the 670G and the algorithms are significantly different.

“Each design that is approved by the FDA will be slightly better than the one before,” Gallagher said. “They’re building on the successes that came earlier.”

No one dropped out of the study

Daniel Finan, a research director with JDRF (formerly the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), said that what’s most important for people with type 1 diabetes is choice. “This study is a meaningful step forward, and there are more good innovations on the horizon,” he said.

Finan noted it was significant that no one dropped out of the study. “This system was designed with usability in mind,” he said. “You can’t reap the benefits if you don’t want to wear the device.”

Tandem Diabetes has filed paperwork with the FDA for approval of the Control-IQ device.

The study was published online in the New England Journal of Medicine. It was funded by the US National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

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HealthDay

A community’s dream of new infrastructure to replace their dilapidated clinic remains just that after an alleged sudden change of mind by the Department of Health to renovate the building instead of demolishing the decaying structure and building a new one.

Lephepane Clinic was declared the country’s worst clinic last year by the Office of Health Standards Compliance (OHSC).

The OHSC, which aims to improve the quality of health care in South Africa, scored the clinic 20% and said it didn’t comply with National Core Standards, as the safety of patients at the clinic was compromised due to the bad condition of the building.

The agreement 

According to clinic committee, after series of meetings last year between the community stakeholders and delegates from the department, it was agreed that they would first install a security fence, bring in mobile clinics, and demolish the old building. The committee is bewildered by government’s U-turn.

“[It] was clear what needed to be done and we agreed on that. It was [a] palisade fence first and mobile clinics second, and that is what we agreed upon. The mobile clinics were to make sure the service wasn’t disturbed while the old building was demolished and the new structure built,” says Mpapa Rakgoale, the clinic committee’s assistant secretary.

Putting patients in peril 

Rakgoale says the current building is not safe at all. It is not conducive to rendering proper health care services. There is no secrecy. The wall has cracks and you can hear some people giving birth or receiving counselling. The rooms are not enough,” says Rakgoale.

The OHSC also found that some health services are not performed according to the required standard. With the palisade fence recently completed, Rakgoale, told OurHealth that officials from the department had recently visited the clinic to do a survey with the intent to renovate.

“The palisade fence is now finished and we are waiting for a new building, nothing less. There were officials who came to do a clinic survey. We will soon call a community meeting in order to come with the way forward,” he adds.”[The] Clinic Committee is a structure which has full access to the department to raise any matter of concern,” says provincial health spokesperson Neil Shikwambana.

“We have not received any complaints from them, and until such time we will not entertain hearsay,” says Shikwambana.

– Health-e News 

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Mogale Mojela

The Royal College of Nursing says the proposed “NHS visa” will not do enough to fix staff shortages.

Two women share their experience of loneliness and how it relates to their parents and children.