Women's Health News

RSS

Oral contraception can prevent knee injuries as well as unwanted pregnancies

In 1960 the first oral contraception, Enovid-10, was launched in the US market, known as the “pill”. Women were finally enthused about a form of contraception marketed as “safe and effective” and readily used the pill. Within two years oral contraception was used by over 1.2 million women and the numbers continued to rise.

16 Nov 2004

Vaccine against human papillomavirus infection could reduce the global incidence of cervical cancer

A randomised trial in this week’s issue of THE LANCET shows how a vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV) infection could potentially reduce the global incidence of cervical cancer.

14 Nov 2004

Treating period pain with Chinese medicine

It's news that could have women everywhere throwing away their hot water bottles, painkillers and Tim Tams. A University of Western Sydney study is set to discover if ancient Chinese medicine can provide relief from the monthly cramping, back pain and bloating associated with menstruation.

11 Nov 2004

Researcher highlights hidden problem of smoking after pregnancy

Most women know to drop cigarettes and alcohol while they are pregnant. In fact, about half of women smokers now quit smoking when they become pregnant.

9 Nov 2004

Women who have diets rich in oils containing alpha-linolenic appear to have a lower risk of dying from heart disease

Women who reported eating diets rich in oils containing alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) seemed to have a lower risk of dying from heart disease and sudden cardiac death than women whose diets are low in the plant-derived fatty acid, researchers reported at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2004.

9 Nov 2004

Obesity could more than double an older woman's risk of acute myelogenous leukemia

A study from the University of Minnesota Cancer Center indicates that overweight and obesity could more than double an older woman's risk of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), an often fatal cancer of the bone marrow and blood.

8 Nov 2004

Regular smear tests rather than colposcopy is the best way of monitoring low-grade cervical lesions

Results of a US study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET suggest that regular smear tests rather than colposcopy is the best way of monitoring low-grade cervical lesions among adolescents and young women.

5 Nov 2004

Prolonged breastfeeding helps prevent rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an inflammatory disease of the immune system, is between two and four times more likely to strike women than men.

4 Nov 2004

Urinary incontinence is passed down from mother to daughter

New research from the University of Bergen (UiB), Norway, shows that a woman who’s mother has urinary incontinence has a 30 percent greater chance for incontinence herself.

4 Nov 2004

Labor lasts longer for overweight or obese women

Pregnant women who are overweight or obese progress through labor more slowly than do normal weight women, according to a study by researchers at the University of North Carolina and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health.

2 Nov 2004

Study results suggest that metronidazole and clindamycin differ in their effects on microbes in women with bacterial vaginosis

In the first study to directly compare the emergence of antibiotic resistance following topical treatment between two antibiotics routinely prescribed for a common vaginal infection, researchers from the Magee-Womens Research Institute have found antibiotic-resistant bacteria more likely to develop with the drug clindamycin than metronidazole.

1 Nov 2004

Work stressed women more vulnerable than men to post 9/11 trauma

Women who faced everyday work stress were particularly vulnerable to symptoms of anxiety and increased alcohol consumption following the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, according to a new study published by psychiatric researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

1 Nov 2004