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UNFPA Director urges India to address family planning needs

India "has to actively and aggressively address the issue of family planning" in order to improve human development indicators, including health, education and living standards, UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin said Wednesday, Reuters reports.

4 May 2012

Urodynamic tests before SUI surgery may not be necessary for women

A routine, but expensive, test for women who undergo stress incontinence surgery may not always be necessary, according to a study published in the latest issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

4 May 2012

Women's health, health law issues heating up campaigns

News outlets examine how women's health issues and the health law are affecting the presidential race as well as specific campaigns for Senate, congressional and state races.

4 May 2012

Chagas disease especially harmful for expectant mothers; New, better treatments needed

"Chagas disease -- a parasitic infection transmitted through an insect commonly known as the 'kissing bug' -- is one of the most common infections among pregnant women in the Western Hemisphere," Peter Hotez, president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute and director of the Sabin Vaccine Institute and Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, writes in the Huffington Post's "Global Motherhood" blog.

4 May 2012

Study: Breast cancer in young women is enriched with aggressive basal-like tumors

Breast cancer in young women is a biologically unique disease that requires customized management strategies, researchers report at the 4th IMPAKT Breast Cancer Conference, in Brussels, Belgium.

4 May 2012

Increased maternal intake of choline better for the baby

Pregnant women may have added incentive to bulk up on broccoli and eggs now that a Cornell University study has found increased maternal intake of the nutrient choline could decrease their children's chances of developing hypertension and diabetes later in life.

3 May 2012

UCSD radiation oncologist challenges MD Anderson brachytherapy findings

Catheryn Yashar, MD, radiation oncologist at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center and a pioneer in breast brachytherapy is available to offer perspective on the effectiveness of breast brachytherapy - a shorter course of radiation treatment for breast cancer.

3 May 2012

A test to predict breast cancer many years before the disease is diagnosed

Ultimately the findings, in the journal Cancer Research, could lead to a simple blood test to screen women, they say. The test looks for how genes are altered by environmental factors like alcohol and hormones - a process known as epigenetics. One in five women is thought to have such a genetic “switch” that doubles breast cancer risk say researchers.

3 May 2012

Impact of Texas family planning affiliation regulation

As a federal appeals court considers the legality of Texas' family planning "affiliation regulation," a new report provides a preliminary assessment of the impact of the Texas rule on preventive care access by low-income women.

3 May 2012

Latest skirmish over 'war on women' touches a number of health policy concerns

NPR reports that the latest flashpoint involves a $15 billion cut from the health law's prevention trust fund. Meanwhile, The Washington Post offers a fact check on stats offered by the Romney campaign about the Obama administration and women.

3 May 2012

ADM hormone plays a significant role in tubal ectopic pregnancies

Tubal ectopic pregnancy (TEP) is currently the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths during the first trimester and a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) shows that the hormone adrenomedullin (ADM) may help predict this condition.

3 May 2012

Georgia bans most late-term abortions

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed a bill Tuesday banning most late-term abortions -- those after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The law was pushed after controversial research found a fetus can feel pain at that stage of the pregnancy.

3 May 2012

Questions raised over U.K. DfID funding and sterilization in India

A Wall Street Journal editorial addresses reports published on April 14 in the Guardian alleging that the U.K. Department for International Development (DfID) funded a program in India that "has 'forcibly sterilized Indian women and men' -- a practice India supposedly left behind in the 1970s," the editorial states.

3 May 2012

Federal appeals judge reverses Monday ruling, allows Texas to exclude Planned Parenthood from Women's Health Program

A second federal judge in Texas issued an injunction allowing Texas to exclude Planned Parenthood from Texas' Women's Health Program -- for now -- a day after another judge in Texas had ruled the state couldn't bar the group from the health program. The judge who ruled Tuesday has ordered Planned Parenthood to respond by Tuesday afternoon.

3 May 2012

Digital breast tomosynthesis plus 2D mammography reduce patient recall rates by 40%

Adding digital breast tomosynthesis to 2D mammography screening results in a 40% reduction in patient recall rates compared to routine screening mammography alone, a new study shows.

3 May 2012

Women with benign breast biopsies do not need follow-up at six months

Contrary to current guidelines, women with benign breast biopsies do not need follow-up at six months; they may not need close surveillance at all, a new study shows.

3 May 2012

Smokers with variants in specific genes at increased risk for hot flashes

Women who smoke and carry specific variations in the genes that impact their metabolism are at higher risk of developing hot flashes in comparison with smokers who do not carry these gene variants, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

3 May 2012

Bladder tests performed on women before SUI surgery may not be necessary

Invasive and costly tests commonly performed on women before surgery for stress urinary incontinence (SUI) may not be necessary, according to researchers at the University of California San Diego, School of Medicine and the Urinary Incontinence Treatment Network. The study, supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will be released online May 2 by the New England Journal of Medicine.

3 May 2012

Maternal intake of choline could reduce risk of hypertension, diabetes in children

3 May 2012

Not enough 14 year old girls are getting adequate exercise at school: Report

According to new research into sports and physical education (PE) at school by the Women's Sport & Fitness Foundation (WSF) suggests that the embarrassment of PE classes can put young women off exercise for the rest of their life.

2 May 2012