Women's Health News and Research

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Risks of long-term hormone therapy continue to outweigh benefits

New results from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) confirm that the health risks of long-term use of combination (estrogen plus progestin) hormone therapy in healthy, postmenopausal women persist even a few years after stopping the drugs and clearly outweigh the benefits.

6 Mar 2008

Cancer risk slightly higher for women in discontinued hormone treatment trial

A follow up study of participants in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) clinical trial led by a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researcher has found that women who were taking the combined hormone therapy of estrogen plus progestin may have an increased risk of cancer since the intervention was stopped, compared to participants in the trial's placebo group.

6 Mar 2008

Cancer risk from HRT remains long after treatment has stopped

The results of a new study have shown that the risk of cancer associated with Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) continues long after a woman stops taking it.

5 Mar 2008

Brain differences between women and men

What was once speculation is now being confirmed by scientists: the brains of women and men are different in more ways than one.

1 Mar 2008

HRT appears to have no effect on risk and severity of rheumatoid arthritis

Although rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is more predominant in women, the reasons for this are unclear.

28 Feb 2008

Restricting insulin doses increases mortality risk in women with type 1 diabetes

A new study led by researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center has found that women with type 1 diabetes who reported taking less insulin than prescribed had a three-fold increased risk of death and higher rates of disease complications than those who did not skip needed insulin shots.

28 Feb 2008

Minimally invasive fibroid treatment fares well in multicenter trial

A new multicenter trial found that uterine artery embolization (UAE) is a good alternative to hysterectomy in women with symptomatic fibroids.

27 Feb 2008

Hormone therapy increases frequency of abnormal mammograms, breast biopsies

Combined hormone therapy appears to increase the risk that women will have abnormal mammograms and breast biopsies, and it may decrease the effectiveness of both methods for detecting breast cancer, according to a report in the Feb. 25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

26 Feb 2008

XYNTHA approved for teatment of hemophilia A by FDA

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth ( NYSE:WYE) , announced today that it has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for XYNTHA(TM) (Antihemophilic Factor [Recombinant], Plasma/Albumin-Free), a recombinant factor VIII product, for patients with hemophilia A for both the control and prevention of bleeding episodes and surgical prophylaxis.

22 Feb 2008

Annual cancer statistics show substantial declines in mortality rates

The American Cancer Society's annual cancer statistics report finds that death rates from cancer in the United States have decreased by 18.4 percent among men and by 10.5 percent among women since mortality rates began to decline in the early 1990s, which translates to the avoidance of more than half a million cancer deaths (534,500) in the United States.

21 Feb 2008

More support needed for menopausal women in rural areas

Good social support and reliable information are essential for women who find menopause an intense and life-altering experience, especially if they live in rural areas where health services are patchy or inaccessible.

20 Feb 2008

Young women not getting enough folic acid

Despite the fact that folic acid can prevent some of the most common birth defects, young women aren't getting enough of it.

18 Feb 2008

Hot flashes may be getting an unfair rap for disrupting women's sleep at midlife

Studies have often reported that sleep problems increase during the transition into menopause, reinforcing the idea that hot flashes are to blame. But even under controlled conditions in sleep laboratories, the connection between hot flashes and sleep disruption remains unclear, reports the February 2008 issue of Harvard Women's Health Watch.

8 Feb 2008

Increase in survival rates of extremely premature infants at London hospital

Survival rates for the most premature babies at a top London hospital have more than doubled over a 20 year period, according to research published in the latest edition of the journal Acta Paediatrica.

5 Feb 2008

Gene expression in meningiomas may vary by hormone receptor status

An association between hormones and meningioma has long been postulated, but the specific nature of this relationship has remained unclear.

4 Feb 2008

Vaginal probiotic product reduce recurrence rate of bacterial vaginosis

A newly published double blind, randomised, placebo controlled study(1) shows that EcoVag, a patented vaginal probiotic product from the Danish company, Bifodan, significantly reduces the recurrence rate of Bacterial Vaginosis (BV) following antibiotic treatment.

31 Jan 2008

Lots of caffeine during pregnancy increases risk of miscarriage

High doses of daily caffeine during pregnancy - whether from coffee, tea, caffeinated soda or hot chocolate - cause an increased risk of miscarriage, according a new study by the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research.

22 Jan 2008

Male and female doctors have divergent views on women and depression

Women and men doctors have some divergent views about women and depression, according to a recent survey conducted by the Society for Women's Health Research, a Washington, D.C., based advocacy organization.

17 Jan 2008

New research advancements in the treatment of premature ovarian failure

Scientific Director of the Meharry Center for Women's Health Research and a team of researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch and the University of Saskatchewan have recently discovered that the gene mutation believed to be a possible cause of premature ovarian failure may be corrected when an adenovirus compensating for the mutated gene is introduced. Findings were reported in the recent issue of Molecular Human Reproduction.

15 Jan 2008

The link between combined HRT use and the risk of lobular breast cancers

Postmenopausal women who take combined estrogen/progestin hormone-replacement therapy for three years or more face a fourfold increased risk of developing various forms of lobular breast cancer, according to new findings by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

15 Jan 2008