Women's Health News

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Viewpoints: Health care's hidden consensus; Examining the fee-for-service payment system; Alternative medicine's allure

The politicians' consensus is that health care reform shouldn't alter or disrupt the way the majority of Americans get their insurance today. ... The policy consensus, though, is that the status quo is actually the problem, and that it deserves to be threatened, undermined and replaced as expeditiously as possible. Wonks of the left and right disagree on what that replacement should look like. But they're united in regarding employer-provided coverage as an unsustainable relic (Ross Douthat, 7/6).

9 Jul 2013

Exploring abortion's 'gray' areas; the importance of personal experiences with choice; North Carolina's 'sham' law

We have some models of what happens, even in very liberal societies, when public views prevail on abortion. Across most of Western Europe, abortion is legal during the first trimester but heavily restricted later in pregnancy - after the 14th week in France, Germany and Spain. These limits are not a violation of liberal principles but a recognition that the inherent violence of late-term abortion is at odds with liberal principles (Michael Gerson, 7/4).

9 Jul 2013

Working shift patterns associated with increased risk of subfertility and menstrual disruption

Shift work, which encourages sleep deprivation and patterns of activity outside the circadian rhythm, has been associated with a greater risk of ill health and loss of well-being in some (but not all) studies.(1) However, little is known about the effects of shift work on reproductive health and fertility.

9 Jul 2013

Multiple pregnancies conceived after IVF associated with increased breast cancer risk

Women who give birth to multiple babies following IVF treatment are at a higher risk of breast cancer than those giving birth to singletons or who remain childless. Dutch investigators from the Omega study group said the explanation may not be the multiple pregnancy per se but a maternal trait related to a higher implantation potential and to breast cancer itself.

9 Jul 2013

Anti-abortion bills in Wisconsin, Texas, North Carolina show GOP muscle

Anti-abortion activists in Republican-dominated states have succeeded in pushing various bills that limit the procedure.

9 Jul 2013

A few clinics are focused on helping pregnant women with prescription drug addictions

The Wall Street Journal examines the growing number of women addicted to pain killers and efforts to help them through pregnancies.

9 Jul 2013

Macrophages play essential role in production of progesterone hormone

New research from the University of Adelaide shows for the first time that immune cells known as macrophages are critical to fertility by creating a healthy hormone environment in the uterus.

9 Jul 2013

Adverse fetal growth, exposure to maternal smoking correlated with lower measures of sperm quality

Studies over the past 20 years have suggested (though not unequivocally confirmed) that semen quality is in decline, reflected most evidently in falling sperm counts and reduced sperm motility.

8 Jul 2013

Risk of implantation failure, lower yield of oocytes linked to higher levels of urinary phthalates

Phthalates are among a group of industrial chemicals shown in some studies to have adverse effects on reproductive health and development, particularly in the male. As such, they have been collectively defined as "endocrine disruptors", and proposed as one of several possible environmental exposures responsible for a decline in fertility.

8 Jul 2013

First Edition: July 8, 2013

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including news about a new ad campaign against the health law, more reaction to the administration's delay of the employer mandate provision and states efforts to restrict abortions.

8 Jul 2013

Study: ChemoFx chemoresponse assay can help identify platinum resistance in primary ovarian cancer

Precision Therapeutics, a leading life-science company dedicated to the improvement of patient outcomes in personalized medicine, today announced findings that support the ChemoFx chemoresponse assay as a tool to aid in the identification of platinum resistance in primary ovarian cancer, according to a presentation at the Annual Meeting of The Western Association of Gynecologic Oncologists June 26-29, in Seattle, Washington.

8 Jul 2013

Study describes how human mammary gland becomes highly sensitive to insulin during lactation

Why do so many mothers have difficulty making enough milk to breastfeed? A new study by scientists at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the University of California Davis adds to their previous research implicating insulin's role in lactation success.

6 Jul 2013

Embodying racism: Race, rhinoplasty, and self-esteem in Venezuela

Many black or racially mixed women in Venezuela are undergoing nose jobs in an effort to look whiter, but the procedure only temporarily improves their self-esteem and body image in a culture that values whiteness, a Dartmouth College study finds.

6 Jul 2013

Consanguineous marriages and older mothers increase risk of birth anomalies in children

Marriage between first cousins can more than double the risk of giving birth to a baby with a congenital anomaly (eg, heart and lung defects, Down syndrome), although the absolute risk is low, according to a multiethnic study of more than 11300 babies from the city of Bradford in the UK, published in The Lancet.

5 Jul 2013

Weekend reading: Taking stock of your body; A designer seeks to improve health care; A researcher's quest to lower suicide rates

Today, I've been on the phone four times, for an average of 24 minutes a call. My last phone call was 22 minutes 23 seconds long, according to the digital time device on my landline. It took me exactly 45 minutes and 10 seconds on the train to reach Brooklyn the other night: I counted the seconds off on my smart phone. My average mile when I ran 5K yesterday was 8 minutes and 45 seconds that showed up on the pedometer. (Nothing to boast about, I know.) ... I am able to hold my plank at the gym for 54 seconds rather than the minute I always thought I could, which I know thanks to my phone's stopwatch. My optimal sleep time is seven hours and 20 minutes and I wake up twice a night: I discovered that from a wristband that measures sleep duration and intensity.

4 Jul 2013

Researchers find that hot flashes take heavier toll on quality of life in HIV-infected women

Women with HIV are living longer, so more are entering menopause. As they do, they suffer more severe hot flashes than women without HIV, and their hot flashes take a heavier toll on their quality of life and daily functioning, found researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital.

4 Jul 2013

Employers worry they'll pay bill for those exempt from contraceptive mandate

Businesses are concerned that non-religious employers will end up covering the bill for religious groups that refuse to pay for contraception for their employees. Meanwhile, church leaders continue their push to broaden the exemption from the contraception coverage rule.

4 Jul 2013

Viewpoints: Dems' abortion policies on the wrong side of public opinion; Doctors need to be more accurate in death reports

Last week saw two major developments in the legal and political battle over the Obama administration's sound decision to require most employers to provide free insurance coverage of contraceptives for women under the new health care law - one of them positive and the other a blow to the mandate and to religious liberty (7/1).

3 Jul 2013

First Edition: July 3, 2013

Today's headlines detail the Obama administration announcement that it would delay the health law rule requiring businesses provide insurance to workers.

3 Jul 2013

Study examines link between smoking cessation, weight gain and CHD risk in postmenopausal women

"Cigarette smoking is an important cause of cardiovascular disease, and smoking cessation reduces the risk. However, weight gain after smoking cessation may increase the risk of diabetes and weaken the benefit of quitting," write Juhua Luo, Ph.D., of the Indiana University School of Public Health, Bloomington, Ind., and colleagues.

3 Jul 2013

Women's Health News

Viewpoints: Health care's hidden consensus; Examining the fee-for-service payment system; Alternative medicine's allure

Exploring abortion's 'gray' areas; the importance of personal experiences with choice; North Carolina's 'sham' law

Working shift patterns associated with increased risk of subfertility and menstrual disruption

Multiple pregnancies conceived after IVF associated with increased breast cancer risk

Anti-abortion bills in Wisconsin, Texas, North Carolina show GOP muscle

A few clinics are focused on helping pregnant women with prescription drug addictions

Macrophages play essential role in production of progesterone hormone

Adverse fetal growth, exposure to maternal smoking correlated with lower measures of sperm quality

Risk of implantation failure, lower yield of oocytes linked to higher levels of urinary phthalates

First Edition: July 8, 2013

Study: ChemoFx chemoresponse assay can help identify platinum resistance in primary ovarian cancer

Study describes how human mammary gland becomes highly sensitive to insulin during lactation

Embodying racism: Race, rhinoplasty, and self-esteem in Venezuela

Consanguineous marriages and older mothers increase risk of birth anomalies in children

Weekend reading: Taking stock of your body; A designer seeks to improve health care; A researcher's quest to lower suicide rates

Researchers find that hot flashes take heavier toll on quality of life in HIV-infected women

Employers worry they'll pay bill for those exempt from contraceptive mandate

Viewpoints: Dems' abortion policies on the wrong side of public opinion; Doctors need to be more accurate in death reports

First Edition: July 3, 2013

Study examines link between smoking cessation, weight gain and CHD risk in postmenopausal women

Exploring the nanoscale: How AFM is transforming cosmetic science

Innovating Texture and Culture in Plant-Based Foods

Advancing brain microphysiological systems (bMPS)

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