Women's Health News and Research

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Supreme Court declines to consider challenge to New York contraceptive coverage law

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said it will not consider a challenge to a New York law that requires employers who offer prescription drug plans to provide coverage for FDA-approved contraceptives for women, the New York Times reports (Greenhouse, New York Times, 10/2).

2 Oct 2007

Government failed to disclose information about risks of formula-feeding because of political, economic reasons

The decision to halt an HHS public service campaign that promoted breast-feeding "seems to be a matter of politics and economics," Wendy Orent, author of the book "Plague: The Mysterious Past and Terrifying Future of the World's Most Dangerous Disease," writes in a Los Angeles Times opinion piece (Orent, Los Angeles Times, 9/30).

2 Oct 2007

GE Healthcare to address use of ultrasound machine in India for sex-selective abortions

V. Raja, CEO of GE Healthcare South Asia, at a seminar that concluded Saturday said while the company has been "compliant as far as the law is concerned," it is "willing to do more and to look at suggestions" to reduce use of its ultrasound machine for sex-selective abortions, AFP/Yahoo! News reports (Gupta, AFP/Yahoo! News, 9/29).

2 Oct 2007

Connecticut Catholic Bishops agree to comply with law requiring hospitals to dispense EC to rape survivors

Connecticut's Roman Catholic bishops on Thursday said that the state's four Catholic hospitals will comply with a law (SB 1343) that takes effect Monday and requires all hospitals in the state to dispense emergency contraception to rape survivors, the Hartford Courant reports (Keating, Hartford Courant, 9/28).

2 Oct 2007

Obese moms-to-be should gain less weight than currently recommended

Severely obese women should lose weight during pregnancy, while obese women who are pregnant should gain less weight than currently recommended, a Saint Louis University study finds.

2 Oct 2007

Residual fetal cells in women may provide protection against breast cancer

Fetal cells that persist in a woman's body long after pregnancy - a common occurrence known in scientific circles as fetal microchimerism - in some cases may reduce the woman's risk of breast cancer, according to researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

2 Oct 2007

Residual fetal cells in women both detrimental and beneficial to women's health

Fetal cells that persist in a woman's body long after pregnancy – a common occurrence known in scientific circles as fetal microchimerism – in some cases may reduce the woman's risk of breast cancer, according to researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

1 Oct 2007

More research needed on sex differences in lung cancer

The Society for Women's Health Research gathered three lung cancer experts on Capitol Hill on September 17, 2007 to inform Congress on the need for increased funding to research lung cancer and its impact on women.

1 Oct 2007

Job stress and work environment can contribute to depression

Job stress and a lack of social support in the workplace were associated with major episodes of depression in men, according to a study led by a University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry psychologist.

1 Oct 2007

New breast cancer screening guidelines

New guidelines from the American Cancer Society (ACS) recommend that women at very high risk for breast cancer receive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) along with annual mammography, reports the October 2007 issue of Harvard Women's Health Watch .

27 Sep 2007

New lenses offer cataract patients clearer future

You're reading and you notice 3's look like 8's or vice versa. When driving, you find yourself needing to be closer to road signs to make the words out clearly. The world just starts to look a little hazy.

26 Sep 2007

HRT boosts libido but not memory

Hormone therapy in early post-menopause increases sexual interest, but does not improve memory, according to a study in the Sept. 25 issue of the journal Neurology.

25 Sep 2007

Older women more knowledgeable about cholesterol than younger women

Older adult American women are better informed about cholesterol and more likely to monitor it than younger adult women, but gaps remain in cholesterol knowledge and efforts to screen for it adequately, according to results of a national survey released by the Society for Women's Health Research, a Washington, D.C., based advocacy organization.

21 Sep 2007

$Women with low levels of vitamin D have an increased risk of hip fracture$

Women with low levels of vitamin D have an increased risk of hip fracture

Women with low levels of vitamin D have an increased risk of hip fracture, according to a study led by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health presented this week at the 29th annual meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research at the Hawaii Convention Center.

21 Sep 2007

Weill Cornell Medical College to lead new NYC translational research collaboration

Weill Cornell Medical College has been selected by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to establish and lead a new Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC), creating an ambitious and innovative network for biomedical collaboration on New York's Upper East Side.

20 Sep 2007

Women generally unaware of landmark hormone therapy study

Despite the huge publicity generated by a 2002 study on the potential dangers of hormone therapy for postmenopausal women, new research from the Stanford University School of Medicine found that only 29 percent of women surveyed knew about the study two years later.

18 Sep 2007

Early childbearing, marital status, and women's health and mortality after age 50

Women who have their first child before age 20 are at a higher risk of chronic diseases and death when they reach middle age, a new study shows.

18 Sep 2007

Circulating fats kill transplanted pancreas cells

New findings by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers show that a byproduct of cholesterol metabolism interferes with the beneficial effects estrogen has on the cardiovascular system, providing a better understanding of the interplay between cholesterol and estrogen in heart disease.

18 Sep 2007