Women's Health News

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Women with breast cancer do not get potentially life-saving information

New published data from a large pan-European survey indicate that the majority of postmenopausal women with early breast cancer taking post-surgical endocrine therapy are not involved in making key decisions about their treatment, nor are they given sufficient information to make informed treatment choices that could affect their long-term outcome.

28 May 2007

Hormone therapy and menopause study

When is the best time in a woman's reproductive history to start hormone therapy?

24 May 2007

Moderate alcohol consumption lowers women's risk of heart attack

Women who regularly enjoy an alcoholic drink or two have a significantly lower risk of having a non-fatal heart attack than women who are life-time abstainers, epidemiologists at the University at Buffalo have shown.

24 May 2007

Effects of estrogen therapy with perimenopausal women

When is the best time in a woman's reproductive history to start hormone therapy? How does estrogen therapy affect a woman's cognition and mood? What is the most beneficial form of estrogen?

24 May 2007

Sleep apnea is associated with gestational diabetes mellitus and pregnancy-induced hypertension

Sleep apnea is associated with a greatly increased incidence of pregnancy-induced diabetes and high blood pressure, according to a study presented at the American Thoracic Society 2007 International Conference, on Wednesday, May 22.

24 May 2007

U.S. parents not in favor of HPV vaccine mandates

While debate in several state governments continues to grow over school mandates for Gardasil – a vaccine recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for girls ages 11 to 12 that is designed to provide protection against human papillomavirus, or HPV, the virus linked to cervical cancer and genital warts – the majority of U.S. parents have already reached a decision on the issue: They do not want the vaccine to be mandated.

24 May 2007

Surgeries to treat urinary incontinence in women

The University of California, San Diego Medical Center along with nine other clinical research institutions across the United States has completed the largest randomized clinical trial to date comparing two commonly performed surgical procedures to treat urinary stress incontinence.

22 May 2007

Women diagnosed with breast cancer should either get exercising or keep exercising

This is the message from a new study in Springer's Journal of Cancer Survivorship by Catherine Alfano and colleagues at the Ohio State University.

22 May 2007

Breast MRI may have a role in evaluation of newly diagnosed breast cancers

Among women who are newly diagnosed with breast cancer, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the breast appears helpful in determining surgical treatment, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

22 May 2007

Sling better than colposuspension for stress urinary incontinence

A large study by a team of urologists and urogynecologists has found that in a comparison of the two traditional surgical operations for stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in women, using an internal sling to support the uretha was more effective than colposuspension.

22 May 2007

FDA soon to approve contraceptive pill Lybrel that also stops periods

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States is about to approve a birth control pill with a double whammy.

21 May 2007

New breast cancer treatment may dispense with the need for chemotherapy

According to the latest research new hormone therapy drugs designed to treat breast cancer may dispense with the need for chemotherapy thus avoiding the nasty side effects associated with the treatment.

21 May 2007

Hormone treatment could cut need for chemo in some younger breast cancer patients

Around 5,500 pre-menopausal breast cancer patients could be offered a hormone drug that is shown to be as effective as traditional chemotherapy - and so avoid potential infertility and long-term menopausal side effects - according to a Cancer Research UK report published in The Lancet.

20 May 2007

Aspirin during pregnancy could reduce risk of pre-eclampsia

Women who receive aspirin or other antiplatelet drugs during pregnancy are at lower risk of pre-eclampsia, conclude authors of an article published in an upcoming edition of The Lancet.

20 May 2007

Sally speaks on osteoporosis story on Capitol Hill

The Society for Women's Health Research and the National Osteoporosis Foundation held a briefing on Capitol Hill to inform lawmakers about recent advances in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis.

18 May 2007

Health effects of isoflavones and breast cancer

Are soy products healthy additions to a person's diet, safe alternatives to hormone-replacement therapy or cancer-causing agents" The answer, according to University of Illinois food science and human nutrition professor William Helferich, is, "It depends."

17 May 2007

Merits and risks of postmenopausal hormone therapy

The study was categorized as a primary prevention trial for coronary heart disease, although the fact that mean age at recruitment was 63 years was not given enough importance at that time. WHI investigators concluded that hormone therapy (HT) was not cardioprotective, and, in fact, its riskbenefit ratio did not favor the use of postmenopausal hormones for prevention of chronic diseases.

17 May 2007

Sex differences in health awareness

A majority of American women always or frequently read the labels of their prescribed or over the counter medications to see if they might work differently in women, but few discuss this issue with their doctor or pharmacist, according to a new survey released by the Society for Women's Health Research, a Washington, D.C., based advocacy organization.

16 May 2007

Just 75 minutes of exercise per week helps improve fitness levels for postmenopausal women who are overweight

New research indicates that even small amounts of physical activity, approximately 75 minutes a week, can help improve the fitness levels for postmenopausal women who are sedentary and overweight or obese, according to a study in the May 16 issue of JAMA.

16 May 2007