Women's Health News

RSS

Data shows association between increased weight and breast cancer survival varies by race/ethnicity

An extreme body mass index or high waist-to-hip ratio, both measures of body fat, increased risk for mortality among patients with breast cancer, but this association varied by race/ethnicity, according to recently presented data.

29 Oct 2012

Improving global maternal mortality, women's health and related U.S. foreign policy

In the Center for Strategic & International Studies' "Smart Global Health" blog, Phillip Nieburg, senior associate of the CSIS Global Health Policy Center, discusses a recent report he wrote, titled "Improving Maternal Mortality and Other Aspects of Women's Health: The United States' Global Role," "that addresses key challenges to improving maternal mortality and women's health worldwide and talks about what the related priorities of U.S. foreign policy should be."

29 Oct 2012

Obama emphasizes women's health issues

President Barack Obama is differentiating his positions from those of GOP challenger Mitt Romney, saying a Romney win could result in the overturning of Roe v. Wade. He is also assailing efforts to "redefine rape," attempting to link Romney to comments made by Indiana Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock.

29 Oct 2012

Viewpoints: Washington Post endorses Obama; GOP Senate candidates hurting party's reach to women; 'Too much choice' in Medicare?

Mr. Obama is committed to the only approach that can succeed: a balance of entitlement reform and revenue increases. Mr. Romney, by contrast, has embraced his party's reality-defying ideology that taxes can always go down but may never go up. Along that road lies a future in which interest payments crowd out everything else a government should do, from defending the nation to caring for its poor and sick to investing in its children.

29 Oct 2012

Non-Hispanic black women more likely to die from breast cancer

Non-Hispanic black women diagnosed with breast cancer, specifically those with estrogen receptor-positive tumors, are at a significantly increased risk for breast cancer death compared with non-Hispanic white women.

29 Oct 2012

Resveratrol does not appear to offer metabolic benefits in healthy women

Resveratrol, an ingredient in red wine thought to improve insulin sensitivity, reduce risk of heart disease and increase longevity, does not appear to offer these benefits in healthy women, new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates.

26 Oct 2012

Mourdock rape comment roils Indiana Senate race, reignites furor over women's health issues

The statement by Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock, linking God's will to pregnancy resulting from rape, has spurred strong reactions from campaigns across the country - including the presidential candidates.

26 Oct 2012

World Prematurity Day: Nov. 17

This meeting organised in Paris from the 25th to the 27th of October, will be the opportunity to mark the end of inclusions for a cohort of over 8000 very preterm infants and to provide feedback on preliminary results of the project, launched in 2011.

26 Oct 2012

NAFC conducts online survey to examine women’s perceptions about overactive bladder

The National Association For Continence (NAFC) is conducting an anonymous online survey to understand the perceptions women, age 40-65, have about overactive bladder (OAB) and what they are prepared to do about its symptoms. Using constructs from the Health Belief Model, this survey aims to explain the fears and preparedness women have towards general health and OAB. This research is conducted by Kelton Global Research, a market research company and supported by a grant from Merck Pharmaceuticals.

26 Oct 2012

Simple educational intervention could improve treatment rates for osteoporosis

Older patients who visited local ERs for chest pain or breathing problems and had chest x-rays reveal unknown spinal fractures, were more apt to receive osteoporosis treatment afterward if a simple intervention was used, recently published medical research from the University of Alberta has found.

26 Oct 2012

Longer looks: Controversial raffle for IVF treatment; New role for community health workers; Romney, health care and the free market

"That's right, one lucky woman will win the ultimate chance at starting or building her family," said a contest announcement issued in April by Long Island I.V.F., a clinic in Melville that offers in vitro fertilization to women who are having difficulty conceiving. Contestants were asked to submit "the most emotional or entertaining essays and homemade amateur videos" explaining why they wanted a free round of I.V.F.

26 Oct 2012

Pica and geophagy far more prevalent in Madagascar

Though it was identified as a disorder as early as the 14th century, pica, or the eating of non-food items, has for years believed to be all but non-existent in a few corners of the globe - a 2006 study that reviewed research on pica found just four regions - the South of South America, Japan, Korea and Madagascar -where the behavior had never been observed.

25 Oct 2012

Medicare, abortion grab attention in some House, Senate races

News outlets offer another round of coverage on the Wisconsin Senate race and a tight New York House race, while candidates' views on abortion are spotlighted in Indiana and Missouri.

25 Oct 2012

Appeals court blocks Ind. law barring Planned Parenthood funding

The state had sought to cut Medicaid funding because Planned Parenthood also provides abortion services.

25 Oct 2012

Maternal mental health important to successful motherhood but overlooked

In the Huffington Post's "Global Motherhood" blog, Christy Turlington Burns, founder of Every Mother Counts, writes, "On the list of health risks women are subjected to, mental health seldom reaches the top. And while there are a lot of stigmas around many diseases, there may not be a close rival to the stigma those with diseases of the mind face each day. Mental illness pushes those who are already marginalized in developed and developing societies, even further into the margins."

25 Oct 2012

Hypnosis can help cut hot flashes by as much as 74%

Hypnosis can help cut hot flashes by as much as 74%, shows a study supported by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

25 Oct 2012

Hot flashes and night sweats can return after SSRI treatment in women

Hot flashes and night sweats can return after women stop using escitalopram-an antidepressant-to treat these menopause symptoms, according to a study published online this month in Menopause, the journal of the North American Menopause Society.

25 Oct 2012

NIH conference to assess GDM screening and diagnostic approaches

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a condition in which women without previously diagnosed diabetes exhibit high blood glucose levels during pregnancy (especially during the third trimester of pregnancy). It is defined as carbohydrate intolerance, which is the inability of the body to adequately process carbohydrates (sugars and starches) into energy for the body, that develops or is first recognized during pregnancy.

25 Oct 2012

Dementia: A National Crisis – a review of the Manchester 2012 conference

It was clear from the title – Dementia: A National Crisis – that the conference would focus on the important challenges facing many people living with dementia in the country today.

24 Oct 2012

Study to examine possible link between mitochondrial DNA and ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer is a deadly disease. With no overt symptoms and no screening tests to catch it early, ovarian cancer is often detected at stage 3 or later. By then, it can be very aggressive and may have spread beyond the ovaries into other organs. Many women eventually succumb to it; the five-year survival rate for a stage 3 ovarian cancer diagnosis is only 34 percent.

24 Oct 2012