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New book explores resistance against harsh policing of sexuality in some Muslim societies

With the Arab Spring came massive social upheaval. As citizens continue to rise up and autocratic regimes fall, challenges to women's rights cross borders unimpeded. From community-based oppression to state-sanctioned legal battles, women rights are being challenged at multiple levels. [More]
Young women's childbearing risk depend on prevalence of obesity in their schools

Young women's childbearing risk depend on prevalence of obesity in their schools

For young women in high school, the risk of childbearing may depend on the prevalence of obesity in their schools, according to sociologists, who found that as the prevalence of obesity rises in a school, so do the odds of obese high school students bearing children. [More]
People with medical debt more likely to avoid medical care, finds new study

People with medical debt more likely to avoid medical care, finds new study

People with outstanding credit card or medical debt were more likely to delay or avoid medical or dental care, finds a new study in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior. [More]
DFG selects researchers to receive the 2013 Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize

DFG selects researchers to receive the 2013 Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize

This year's recipients of the most important prize for early career researchers in Germany have been announced. The selection committee appointed by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) have chosen nine researchers, four women and five men, to receive the 2013 Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize. [More]
Study: Primary medication nonadherence can lead to increased risk of bone fractures

Study: Primary medication nonadherence can lead to increased risk of bone fractures

Nearly 30 percent of women failed to pick up their bisphosphonate prescriptions, a medication that is most commonly used to treat osteoporosis and similar bone diseases, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published this week in the journal Osteoporosis International. [More]

Proposed computer application wins People's Choice for Healthcare Delivery contest

A proposed computer application that will translate what happens during a visit to the doctor's office into a customized, printable summary of actionable items that a patient can take home or have e-mailed to designated recipients has won the Regenstrief Institute's People's Choice for Healthcare Delivery contest. [More]

CU-Boulder study reveals how sexual frequency corresponds with happiness

Sex apparently is like income: People are generally happy when they keep pace with the Joneses and they're even happier if they get a bit more. [More]
New study examines time devoted to food preparation, exercise for adults

New study examines time devoted to food preparation, exercise for adults

American adults who prepare their own meals and exercise on the same day are likely spending more time on one of those activities at the expense of the other, a new study suggests. [More]
Stigma of mental illness, a public health concern

Stigma of mental illness, a public health concern

An international study found that despite widespread acceptance that mental illness is a disease that can be effectively treated, a common "backbone" of prejudice exists that unfairly paints people with conditions such as depression and schizophrenia as undesirable for close personal relationships and positions of authority. [More]

Study: High rates of gun ownership and political conservatism are at greater risk of suicide

Residents of states with the highest rates of gun ownership and political conservatism are at greater risk of suicide than those in states with less gun ownership and less politically conservative leanings, according to a study by University of California, Riverside sociology professor Augustine J. Kposowa. [More]
Hypertensive diseases during pregnancy may increase risk of hot flashes, night sweats at menopause

Hypertensive diseases during pregnancy may increase risk of hot flashes, night sweats at menopause

Women who have hypertensive diseases during pregnancy seem to be at higher risk of having troublesome hot flashes and night sweats at menopause, report researchers from the Netherlands in an article published online today in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society. [More]
Religion, religious leaders have been central to health, development improvements in Africa

Religion, religious leaders have been central to health, development improvements in Africa

"After decades of doom-and-gloom news about AIDS in Africa, optimism is finally in the air," Jenny Trinitapoli, an assistant professor of sociology, demography, and religious studies at Penn State University, and Alexander Weinreb, an associate professor in the department of sociology and a research associate at the Population Research Center of the University of Texas, Austin, write in a Slate opinion piece. [More]
Higher levels of routine daily physical activity key to better night's sleep for many women

Higher levels of routine daily physical activity key to better night's sleep for many women

Getting a good night's sleep isn't always easy for women at menopause. Exercise may help, but women can have a tough time carving out leisure time for it. [More]

Benefits are not evenly distributed for men and women in workplace, research shows

Having more authority in the workplace comes with many rewards - including greater forms of job control and higher earnings. However, according to new research out of the University of Toronto, the benefits are not evenly distributed for women and men. [More]

Estrogen therapy keeps joint pain at bay post hysterectomy

Estrogen therapy can help keep joint pain at bay after menopause for women who have had a hysterectomy. Joint pain was modestly, but significantly, lower in women who took estrogen alone than in women who took placebo in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) trial. [More]

Higher mortality rates among Americans younger than 50 linked to low life expectancy

Higher mortality rates among Americans younger than 50 are responsible for much of why life expectancy is lower in the United States than most of the world's most developed nations. [More]

American Journal of Public Health publishes special issue on mental health stigma

In a historic first, the American Journal of Public Health has devoted an issue to covering stigma and discrimination against people with mental illnesses, a topic that traditionally is under-researched and under-reported. [More]

Marriage may not always be as beneficial to health as experts have led us to believe

Marriage may not always be as beneficial to health as experts have led us to believe, according to a new study. [More]

International experts to examine global issues around water management and sustainability

International experts are speaking at a series of seminars in Greenwich to examine the global issues around water management and sustainability. [More]

New initiative to help high school communities discuss LGBTQ sexuality

A new initiative to help high school communities discuss LGBTQ sexuality goes beyond the usual anti-bullying messages. San Francisco State University faculty will lead a team of researchers and educators who will work with schools and conduct research in three states to prompt a new kind of dialogue about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LTGBQ) sexuality and youth. [More]