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Dissimilar interaction of opioid receptors may explain why men, women experience pain differently

Women and men experience pain, particularly chronic pain, very differently. The ability of some opioids to relieve pain also differs between women and men. While it has been recognized since the mid-nineties that some narcotic analgesics are more effective in women than men, the reason for this difference was largely unknown.

19 Aug 2011

Celiac disease more prevalent among women with unexplained infertility

A recent study demonstrated increased rates of celiac disease in women who present with unexplained infertility. Published in the May-June 2011 issue of The Journal of Reproductive Medicine, the study evaluated 191 female patients presenting with infertility.

19 Aug 2011

The Perry record on reform, Medicaid and HPV vaccinations

Texas Gov. Rick Perry's high-profile launch of his campaign for the GOP nomination for president means fresh scrutiny on his record and platform regarding health issues.

19 Aug 2011

Amgen to present data from several Prolia studies at ASBMR 2011 meeting

Amgen today announced that it will present data from several Prolia (denosumab) studies, including eight year efficacy and safety data from a Phase 2 extension study in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis with low bone mineral density (BMD), at the 2011 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) Annual Meeting in San Diego, Calif. from Sept. 16-20, 2011.

19 Aug 2011

Female TBI patients more likely to report headaches during first year after injury

Recurring headaches are common during the year following a traumatic brain injury (TBI), regardless of the severity of the TBI, and they tend to occur more often among females and those with a pre-TBI history of headache, according to an article in Journal of Neurotrauma, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

19 Aug 2011

$Dried plums can protect postmenopausal women against fractures, osteoporosis$

Dried plums can protect postmenopausal women against fractures, osteoporosis

When it comes to improving bone health in postmenopausal women — and people of all ages, actually — a Florida State University researcher has found a simple, proactive solution to help prevent fractures and osteoporosis: eating dried plums.

19 Aug 2011

Women being screened too often for cervical cancer

Researchers based at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that many primary care doctors would bring women back for cancer screening annually - while recommendations generally call for a three-year wait after normal tests. This translates to higher costs to women and the healthcare system, as well as a risk of unnecessary treatment for false-positive test results - with very little additional cancer-catching benefit say experts. Lead author Katherine Roland said, “There's really no advantage to annual screening compared to screening every two or three years.”

18 Aug 2011

Flu immunization targets fall short for health workers and pregnant women

According to a new survey despite recent improvements in influenza vaccination rates among U.S. health care personnel, their rates for the 2010-2011 flu season still fell short of national health objectives.

18 Aug 2011

Australian youth mostly ignorant about sexual health

The survey found that most of the young people do not know about Pap smears, sexually transmitted infections and how the contraceptive pill works.

18 Aug 2011

Gene Security Network announces commercial launch of non-invasive prenatal test

Gene Security Network Inc. (GSN) today announced the commercial launch of its first non-invasive prenatal test powered by the company's proprietary bioinformatics technology, Parental Support™.

18 Aug 2011

ACLU files challenge to Kansas law restricting abortion coverage

The American Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday filed suit to block a Kansas law restricting access to insurance coverage for abortion. Kansas law prohibits comprehensive insurance policies from covering abortion, except to save the life of a pregnant woman. Abortion coverage can be purchased separately, but the ACLU says it's not available to all women.

18 Aug 2011

Maternal stress may disrupt masculinization of developing mouse brain

Sons of male mice exposed to prenatal stress are more sensitive to stress as adults, according to a study in the August 17 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. These findings suggest experiences in the womb can lead to individual differences in stress response that may be passed across generations.

18 Aug 2011

Making sense of maternal mortality statistics

Referring to a Maternal Health Task Force infographic depicting maternal mortality worldwide, Jen Quraishi, editorial coordinator for Mother Jones, writes in a post on Mother Jones' "Blue Marble" blog that "there are lots of ways to juggle maternal mortality numbers, and ultimately I find the death rate per capita more useful than the total number of deaths … Charts like these obscure the point that the relative wealth and size of a country do have an effect on its maternal mortality, but they're not everything."

18 Aug 2011

Majority of physicians continue to recommend annual cervical cancer screening

Investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have determined that the majority of primary care providers continue to recommend annual cervical cancer screening, and less than 15% would extend the screening interval when using the Papanicolaou test and human papillomavirus (HPV) test together, as some guidelines suggest.

18 Aug 2011

UNHCR reports 10 children dying daily and women facing risk of rape in Ethiopian refugee camps

"Ten Somali children under the age of five are dying every day of hunger-related causes in a refugee camp in Ethiopia, according to the U.N. refugee agency," the Guardian reports.

18 Aug 2011

FDA approves Mayo Clinic's ovarian and breast cancer vaccines

Mayo Clinic has received investigational new drug approval from the Food and Drug Administration for two new cancer vaccines that mobilize the body's defense mechanisms to destroy malignant cells.

18 Aug 2011

GOP presidential hopefuls — at least the ones who were or are governors — have clear health care positions

ABC News examines the health policy records of three GOP presidential candidates — former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman and Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

18 Aug 2011

Syndax receives European patent allowance for entinostat to treat metastatic breast cancer

Syndax Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage epigenetics oncology company, today announced allowance by the European Patent Office for the patent application titled "N-(2-AMINOPHENYL)-4[N-(PYRIDINE-3-YL) - METHOXYCARBONYL - AMINOMETHYL]-BENZAMINE (MS-275) POLYMORPH B."

18 Aug 2011

Clinical trial to assess 6MP drug in women with advanced breast or ovarian cancer

A CANCER RESEARCH UK-funded trial of a new drug for patients with advanced breast or ovarian cancer due to inherited gene faults has been launched at the Oxford Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC) at the University of Oxford.

17 Aug 2011

High parity linked with increased risk of ER-/PR- breast cancer

Investigators from the Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Center have reported findings that may shed light on why African American women have a disproportionately higher risk of developing more aggressive and difficult-to-treat breast cancers, specifically estrogen and progesterone receptor negative (ER-/PR-) cancers.

17 Aug 2011