Women's Health News

RSS

Research on why and how malaria parasites go undetected in the placenta of pregnant women

Collaborative research between LSTM and the University of Copenhagen, published last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, have answered a long standing mystery, why and how malaria parasites go unnoticed by the immune defences of pregnant mothers.

20 Aug 2011

South Africa should heed recommendations of HRW report on maternal abuses

"If the moral test for a society is the way in which it treats its most vulnerable citizens, then the release of a new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) marks a sad day for South Africa," a Lancet editorial states.

20 Aug 2011

Planned Parenthood to cut back abortion services in Ariz.

Planned Parenthood, the state's largest abortion provider, announced a sweeping cutback of abortion services in Arizona on Thursday, saying it will no longer offer the procedure in communities outside metro Phoenix and Tucson. The organization had been offering abortions at 10 of its 13 Arizona locations. Starting today, that will drop to three.

20 Aug 2011

St. Joseph's Women's Hospital inaugurates new 64-suite neonatal intensive care unit

Most expectant mothers enjoy optimistic dreams of delivering a healthy baby and soon leaving the hospital with their new bundle of joy.

20 Aug 2011

Second-annual UnitedHealthcare's Hair Fitness competition to be held in Atlanta

UnitedHealthcare and the Bronner Bros. International Hair Show are hosting the second-annual "Hair Fitness" competition for exercise-friendly hairstyles at the International Hair Show Aug. 21 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.

20 Aug 2011

Supermom myth could put working mothers at greater risk for depression

Working moms have lower rates of depression than their stay-at-home counterparts, but buying into the supermom myth could put working mothers at greater risk for depression, suggests new research to be presented at the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association.

20 Aug 2011

Babies of mothers with higher pre-pregnancy BMI are fatter, finds study

Babies of mothers with a higher pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) are fatter and have more fat in their liver, a study published in September's issue of the journal Pediatric Research has found.

20 Aug 2011

First 5 LA awards Valley Presbyterian Hospital $500,000 to improve breastfeeding rates

First 5 LA announced today that it is awarding a grant of nearly $500,000 to Valley Presbyterian Hospital to improve the nutrition and health of the hospital's youngest patients by developing and maintaining policies and procedures to encourage increased breastfeeding among mothers of newborns.

19 Aug 2011

Dissimilar interaction of opioid receptors may explain why men, women experience pain differently

Women and men experience pain, particularly chronic pain, very differently. The ability of some opioids to relieve pain also differs between women and men. While it has been recognized since the mid-nineties that some narcotic analgesics are more effective in women than men, the reason for this difference was largely unknown.

19 Aug 2011

Celiac disease more prevalent among women with unexplained infertility

A recent study demonstrated increased rates of celiac disease in women who present with unexplained infertility. Published in the May-June 2011 issue of The Journal of Reproductive Medicine, the study evaluated 191 female patients presenting with infertility.

19 Aug 2011

The Perry record on reform, Medicaid and HPV vaccinations

Texas Gov. Rick Perry's high-profile launch of his campaign for the GOP nomination for president means fresh scrutiny on his record and platform regarding health issues.

19 Aug 2011

Amgen to present data from several Prolia studies at ASBMR 2011 meeting

Amgen today announced that it will present data from several Prolia (denosumab) studies, including eight year efficacy and safety data from a Phase 2 extension study in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis with low bone mineral density (BMD), at the 2011 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) Annual Meeting in San Diego, Calif. from Sept. 16-20, 2011.

19 Aug 2011

Female TBI patients more likely to report headaches during first year after injury

Recurring headaches are common during the year following a traumatic brain injury (TBI), regardless of the severity of the TBI, and they tend to occur more often among females and those with a pre-TBI history of headache, according to an article in Journal of Neurotrauma, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

19 Aug 2011

$Dried plums can protect postmenopausal women against fractures, osteoporosis$

Dried plums can protect postmenopausal women against fractures, osteoporosis

When it comes to improving bone health in postmenopausal women — and people of all ages, actually — a Florida State University researcher has found a simple, proactive solution to help prevent fractures and osteoporosis: eating dried plums.

19 Aug 2011

Women being screened too often for cervical cancer

Researchers based at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that many primary care doctors would bring women back for cancer screening annually - while recommendations generally call for a three-year wait after normal tests. This translates to higher costs to women and the healthcare system, as well as a risk of unnecessary treatment for false-positive test results - with very little additional cancer-catching benefit say experts. Lead author Katherine Roland said, “There's really no advantage to annual screening compared to screening every two or three years.”

18 Aug 2011

Flu immunization targets fall short for health workers and pregnant women

According to a new survey despite recent improvements in influenza vaccination rates among U.S. health care personnel, their rates for the 2010-2011 flu season still fell short of national health objectives.

18 Aug 2011

Australian youth mostly ignorant about sexual health

The survey found that most of the young people do not know about Pap smears, sexually transmitted infections and how the contraceptive pill works.

18 Aug 2011

Gene Security Network announces commercial launch of non-invasive prenatal test

Gene Security Network Inc. (GSN) today announced the commercial launch of its first non-invasive prenatal test powered by the company's proprietary bioinformatics technology, Parental Support™.

18 Aug 2011

ACLU files challenge to Kansas law restricting abortion coverage

The American Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday filed suit to block a Kansas law restricting access to insurance coverage for abortion. Kansas law prohibits comprehensive insurance policies from covering abortion, except to save the life of a pregnant woman. Abortion coverage can be purchased separately, but the ACLU says it's not available to all women.

18 Aug 2011

Maternal stress may disrupt masculinization of developing mouse brain

Sons of male mice exposed to prenatal stress are more sensitive to stress as adults, according to a study in the August 17 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. These findings suggest experiences in the womb can lead to individual differences in stress response that may be passed across generations.

18 Aug 2011