Feature Channels: Women's Health

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Gender-specific group therapy is effective for treating depressed women with Type 2 diabetes, according to a study published in the latest issue of the Annals of Behavioral Medicine and funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research. Evidence suggests that antidepressants may disrupt blood-sugar control and can be associated with increased weight gain; therefore, other treatment options are needed for depression.

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Women who experience early menopause are more likely to have a heart attack or stroke than women whose menopause occurs at a later age, according to a new study by Melissa Wellons, M.D., assistant professor of Medicine in the Vanderbilt Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism.

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Male DNA is commonly found in the brains of women, most likely derived from prior pregnancy with a male fetus, according to first-of-its-kind research conducted at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. While the medical implications of male DNA and male cells in the brain are unknown, studies of other kinds of microchimerism – the harboring of genetic material and cells that were exchanged between fetus and mother during pregnancy – have linked the phenomenon to autoimmune diseases and cancer, sometimes for better and other times for worse.

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Study explores psychosocial implications related to relationships, marriage and childbearing.

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Sleep-related breathing problem associated with serious, expensive conditions like preeclampsia, gestational hypertension.

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Low-weight at birth is an additional but independent risk factor.

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Even if you feel fine, screening tests can help you stay ahead of potentially life-threatening illnesses, says American Heart Association president Donna Arnett, Ph.D., chair of the UAB Department of Epidemiology.

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Women who go into early menopause are twice as likely to suffer from coronary heart disease and stroke, new Johns Hopkins-led research suggests. The association holds true in patients from a variety of different ethnic backgrounds, the study found, and is independent of traditional cardiovascular disease risk factors, the scientists say.

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“Rooming in,” keeping mother and her newborn in the same room 24/7 to encourage breastfeeding, does support the practice, at least in the short term, finds a new review in The Cochrane Library.

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Although many women coping with hot flashes and other distressing symptoms of menopause have turned to black cohosh supplements as a treatment alternative, a new review by The Cochrane Library finds no evidence that the herb is effective.

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Exercising conscience in healthcare is usually defined as refusing to provide contested services, like abortion. But in an article to be published Sept. 13 in the New England Journal of Medicine, a University of Michigan faculty member says doctors can be “conscientious” providers of abortion.

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Simple interventions at a primary care visit can alleviate the embarrassment and quality-of-life issues caused by urinary leakage.

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Doctors who believe that women have “atypical” coronary heart disease symptoms are less certain when diagnosing heart disease in women. As a result, women are less likely than men to receive treatments for an urgent cardiac event, finds a new study in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

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Roughly two in five women in the United States do not use any form of birth control and many underestimate their risk for pregnancy, according to a recent survey about contraceptive practices in the United States.

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A high-fat diet triggers chemical reactions in female mice that could explain why women are more likely than men to gain fat in the abdomen after eating excess saturated fat, new research suggests. The study also sheds light on why women gain fat following menopause.

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Stressing the importance of urological health and increased funding into women’s health research, Lindsey Kerr, MD, Chair of the Society for Women’s Health Research (SWHR) Board of Directors and founder and director of the Urologic Wellness Center at Eastern Maine Medical Center will address the National Foundation for Women Legislators (NFWL) in Tampa, Fla. today.

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A new study published recently in the American Journal of Medicine, conducted by researchers in the Cardiac and Vascular Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center, found there was significantly lower quality of care and worse outcomes in women compared to men – particularly young women under age 35 who had heart attack symptoms.

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A new study suggests that a polyclonal antibody that blocks follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) in mice without ovaries might offer a more effective way to prevent or arrest osteoporosis than currently available treatments.

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A study to be published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM) suggests that physical activity for premenopausal women is very effective in reducing sclerostin—a known inhibitor of bone formation. In addition, physical training enhances IGF-1levels, which have a very positive effect on bone formation.

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An analysis of jailhouse phone calls between men charged with felony domestic violence and their victims allowed researchers for the first time to see exactly what triggered episodes of violent abuse.

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Women with diabetes are just as likely to be interested in, and engage in, sexual activity as non-diabetic women, but they are much more likely to report low overall sexual satisfaction, according to a UCSF study.

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A new study by researchers at UAB contradicts prior reports that epidural analgesia administered during labor is associated with fever in laboring women. The study indicates that epidural analgesia has no effect on maternal temperature.

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A study from the August issue of Anesthesiology provides evidence contrary to prior reports that fever in laboring women is associated with epidural analgesia.

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Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia has been selected to participate in Best Fed Beginnings, a first-of-its-kind national effort to significantly improve breastfeeding rates in states where rates are currently the lowest.

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Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD), a tear of the layers of the artery wall that can block normal blood flow into and around the heart, is a relatively rare and poorly understood condition. It often strikes young, otherwise healthy people -- mostly women -- and can lead to significant heart damage, even sudden death. Now, in the first study of its kind of such patients, Mayo Clinic researchers have started to uncover important clues about SCAD, including its potential risk factors, optimal treatment approaches and short- and long-term cardiovascular outcomes, including a higher-than-expected rate of recurrence. They also found a surprising link to fibromuscular dysplasia, another rare condition that causes a narrowing in some arteries.

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Middle-aged women who report having been physically abused as children are about two times more likely than other women their age to have high blood pressure, high blood sugar, a larger waistline and poor cholesterol levels, according to a new study published by the American Psychological Association.

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Drinking a moderate amount of alcohol as part of a healthy lifestyle may benefit women’s bone health, lowering their risk of developing osteoporosis. A new study assessed the effects of alcohol withdrawal on bone turnover in postmenopausal women who drank one or two drinks per day several times a week. Researchers at Oregon State University measured a significant increase in blood markers of bone turnover in women after they stopped drinking for just two weeks.

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President Obama signed into law the bipartisan Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA) on July 9. This Act reauthorizes FDA’s user fee program, which is critical to the Agency’s funding, and also includes a provision that has been long sought by the Society for Women’s Health Research (SWHR), the American Heart Association (AHA) and Women Heart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease (WomenHeart) that will require FDA to provide a special report and accounting of trials by sex, race, and ethnicity.

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The Endocrine Society commissioned Lake Research Partners to conduct a national survey of 424 internal medicine, family practice and OB/GYN physicians about their attitudes and experiences related to treating menopausal symptoms.

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A study led by Hospital for Special Surgery researchers has demonstrated that women who have a specific type of antibody that interferes with blood vessel function are at risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes and that other antibodies in the same family thought to cause pregnancy complications do not put women at risk.

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The College of American Pathologists (CAP) and the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP) jointly issued The Lower Anogenital Squamous Terminology (LAST) Standardization Project for HPV-Associated Lesions: Background and Consensus Recommendations.

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While research has shown that the heart typically functions better during pregnancy due to a rise in cardiac pumping capacity to meet increased demands, a new UCLA study in rats and mice demonstrates that heart attacks occurring in the last trimester or late months of pregnancy result in worse heart function and more damaged heart tissue than heart attacks among non-pregnant females.

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Gestational diabetes occurs when a woman exhibits high blood sugar for the first time during pregnancy. Scientists have determined a correlation between maternal weight and risk of gestational diabetes. In an effort to reach more women at risk of having heavy babies, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) recently broadened the diagnostic criteria for gestational diabetes.

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Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) who also have obstructive sleep apnea have at least three times the risk of having prediabetes compared with women who do not have PCOS, according to a new study. The results will be presented Tuesday at The Endocrine Society’s 94th Annual Meeting in Houston.

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Male hormonal contraceptives applied daily to the skin reduce sperm production, finds a new study to be presented Sunday at The Endocrine Society’s 94th Annual Meeting in Houston.

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The hot flashes and night sweats that most women experience early in menopause are not linked to increased levels of cardiovascular disease risk markers unless the symptoms persist or start many years after menopause begins. These new study results will be presented Saturday at The Endocrine Society’s 94th Annual Meeting in Houston.

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A multicenter study involving a UT Southwestern Medical Center urogynecologist will eliminate some of the guesswork physicians face about whether to use a sling during vaginal prolapse repair to prevent urinary incontinence.

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“Sandwiched” sequencing of chemotherapy and radiation resulted in more than 80% survival rates in early stage patients.

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Vitamin D and calcium are dietary requirements, but it’s unclear how much is best for us. New draft findings by the United States Preventive Services Task Force conclude that for healthy, postmenopausal women, daily supplementation with low levels of vitamin D — up to 400 international units — combined with 1,000 milligrams of calcium, does not reduce fracture risk.

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Researchers at NYU School of Medicine have made an important discovery that partially answers the long-standing question of why a mother’s immune system does not reject a developing fetus as foreign tissue.

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Contrary to earlier reports, a new study suggests that soy protein may not preserve overall thinking abilities in women over the age of 45, but may improve memory related to facial recognition. The study is published in the June 5, 2012, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Even a moderate amount of weight loss can significantly reduce levels of circulating estrogens that are associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, according to a study by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center – the first randomized, controlled clinical trial to test the effects of weight loss on sex hormones in overweight and obese postmenopausal women, a group at elevated risk for breast cancer.

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Perfume ads, beer billboards, movie posters: everywhere you look, women’s sexualized bodies are on display. A new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, finds that both men and women see images of sexy women’s bodies as objects, while they see sexy-looking men as people.

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After 20 years of debate and controversy over fat grafting to the breast finally it has gotten the seal of approval from the prestigious American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). A new study shows that "pre-expansion" provides the optimal conditions for successful fat transfer to the breast allowing greater augmentation than fat transfer alone and augmentation volume comparable to implants.

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Women, “It’s Your Time, ” according to the 2012 theme of National Women’s Checkup Day on May 14. Nutrition expert Suzy Weems says schedule health screenings, but take some cues from music, too.

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A study conducted in Chile and funded by the University of North Carolina Center for Women's Health Research finds that the most important factor in reducing maternal mortality is the educational level of women.

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•Botanical formula slows highly invasive human breast cancer growth, reduces metastasis. •Formula includes extracts from medicinal mushrooms and herbs and other natural compounds. •No toxic side effects were detected.

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Dental Health May Determine Fertility Chances

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Women often serve as caregivers for their family, sometimes making their own health a secondary issue. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics reminds women of all ages to make health their top priority for both themselves and those they love through regular checkups, preventive screenings and eating right. As part of National Women’s Health Week (May 13-19), women are reminded during National Women’s Checkup Day (May 14) to schedule regular checkups, which are vital to the early detection of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and other diseases.

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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 (JCEM).