Women's Health News

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Debate over mandatory HPV vaccination

The Washington Post on Sunday examined the "widespread backlash" toward proposals to mandate human papillomavirus vaccination for school attendance after dozens of states "enthusiastic[ally] embraced" HPV vaccines.

5 Mar 2007

Giuliani does not mention abortion rights at Conservative conference

Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (R) and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) on Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., "position[ed] themselves as allies" to conservatives despite their "mixed" records on issues such as abortion rights and stem cell research, the Los Angeles Times reports.

5 Mar 2007

Obesity epidemic fuelling premature puberty in girls

Researchers in the United States say girls who are overweight at the age of three run the risk of reaching puberty as early as nine years old and warn that the obesity crisis is now affecting children's development.

5 Mar 2007

No decision on Office of Women's Health Funding, FDA Commissioner Von Eschenbach says

FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach on Wednesday at a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing said he has not made a decision on fiscal year 2007 funding for the agency's Office of Women's Health, Reuters reports.

4 Mar 2007

Actions taken on HPV vaccine proposals in Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Ohio, South Dakota and Virginia

Merck's HPV vaccine Gardasil and GlaxoSmithKline's HPV vaccine Cervarix in clinical trials have been shown to be 100% effective in preventing infection with HPV strains 16 and 18, which together cause about 70% of cervical cancer cases.

4 Mar 2007

First Ladies discuss women's heart health

First lady Laura Bush and former first lady Nancy Reagan on Wednesday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library near Simi Valley, Calif., participated in a panel discussion on women's cardiac health and toured the "First Ladies Red Dress Collection," a collection of red dresses worn by first ladies that aims to promote heart health among women, the Los Angeles Times reports.

4 Mar 2007

New Jersey Health Department orders closure of abortion clinic, lawsuit filed

The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services last week ordered one of the state's largest abortion providers -- Metropolitan Medical Associates in Englewood, N.J. -- to close after finding violations that posed "immediate and serious risk of harm to patients," the Bergen Record reports.

4 Mar 2007

Increasing number of hospitals banning gift bags containing samples of infant formula

An increasing number of hospitals across the U.S. in an effort to promote breast-feeding are banning free gift bags that contain samples of infant formula, which often are given to women when they leave the hospital after delivery, the Wall Street Journal reports.

1 Mar 2007

Lawmakers should not make HPV vaccination mandatory, CDC advisory panel chair says

Jon Abramson, chair of CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, recently said that he does not support mandating human papillomavirus vaccination for school attendance, the Washington Times reports.

1 Mar 2007

About 26% of U.S. girls, women ages 14 to 59 have HPV

Of U.S. women and girls ages 14 to 59, about 24.9 million women, or 26.8%, have the human papillomavirus, and about 2% of women and girls in the age group have HPV strains 16 or 18, which together cause about 70% of cervical cancer cases, according to a study published in the Feb. 28 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Wall Street Journal reports.

1 Mar 2007

Low-fat dairy food renders women less fertile

According to researchers in the U.S. eating low-fat dairy foods may render women less fertile.

28 Feb 2007

Vitamin D deficiency widespread among women during pregnancy

Even regular use of prenatal multivitamin supplements is not adequate to prevent vitamin D insufficiency, University of Pittsburgh researchers report in the current issue of the Journal of Nutrition, the publication of the American Society for Nutrition.

28 Feb 2007

Legislation introduced to help improve heart disease, stroke prevention efforts among women

A group of female lawmakers -- including Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Reps. Barbara Cubin (R-Wyo.) and Lois Capps (D-Calif.) -- earlier this month introduced legislation (S 573, HR 1014) that aims to improve heart disease education among women, bolster gender-specific research and increase women's access to heart disease screening, CQ HealthBeat reports.

28 Feb 2007

FDA intends to withhold $1.2M of $4M allocated to office of women's health

FDA intends to withhold $1.2 million of the $4 million Congress allocated for the agency's Office of Women's Health in fiscal year 2007, and the remaining $2.8 million has already been allocated or spent, according to an unnamed, high-level agency official, the Washington Post reports.

28 Feb 2007

Ice cream to conceive!

Drinking whole fat milk and eating ice cream appears to be better for women trying to become pregnant than a diet consisting of low-fat dairy products such as skimmed milk and yoghurt, according to new research published in the journal, Human Reproduction.

28 Feb 2007