Women Health News

HIV prevention strategy to benefit sufferers Reported August 17, 2010 Increasing highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) treatment for people with HIV/AIDS will provide significant cost savings over a relatively short period of time, according to a formal economic analysis. Led by researchers at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) … [Read more...]

Overcoming Insomnia Without Drugs Reported July 21, 2010 Dozens of insomnia sufferers had questions for the Consults blog about alternatives to sleeping pills. Here, Shelby Freedman Harris, a psychologist and director of Montefiore Medical Center’s Sleep Disorders Center, discusses the benefits of cognitive behavioral therapy, which can rival or … [Read more...]

Council Cuts Health Plan That Helped Poor People Reported July 20, 2010 A program that for a decade helped New York City’s poor and elderly navigate their way through insurance problems — and that became a model for a similar federal program — has become a casualty of city budget cuts, an administrator of the program said on Thursday. The $4 … [Read more...]

Smoking ban in public housing would be good for public health, advocates say Reported June 22, 2010 Generally speaking, the federal government is in the business of protecting public health. It works hard to ensure that medicines are safe before they can be sold to the public. It issues recalls when toys pose choking dangers to small children. … [Read more...]

What's that? Health insurance more likely for those with a college degree?? Reported June 21, 2010 Graduation Women with college degrees are more likely to have health insurance, according to a UCLA study. OK -- this is not exactly a staggering finding. But it's a significant one. It underscores that encouraging women to pursue secondary and … [Read more...]

Golden Rules For Women Who Want To Stay Fit Reported June 04, 2010 There are certain basic rules that all women need to know about keeping fit and healthy. They are really very simple and do not involve a lot of time or money. Firstly, health and fitness go hand in hand. Fitness is not about attaining a perfect figure. An unnaturally slim woman is … [Read more...]

Vitamins, Helpful Or Harmful? Reported May 31, 2010 ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Celebrities tout the benefits. Doctors say, maybe. Do supplements really work? A 2008 study found no evidence that they prolonged life, yet today, it's a nearly a $15 billion dollar industry. Here is more on the pros and cons of supplementing … [Read more...]

Henna tattoos linked to leukaemia riskReported May 10, 2010 Researchers in the Gulf found a much higher than usual incidence of types of leukaemia in local women – elsewhere, most sufferers are men. They suggest that one possible reason could be the popular local custom of using henna to create elaborate skin decorations. They believe that it is not the henna itself … [Read more...]

Irregular menstrual periods tied to heart disease Reported May 21, 2010 (Reuters Health) - Women with a history of irregular menstrual periods may have a higher risk of developing heart disease than do other women, a new study suggests. The study, which followed more than 23,000 Dutch women for a decade, found that those who said they'd … [Read more...]

Diet: Videogame Invented By Teen Reported May 27, 2010 ATLANTA, Ga. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Obesity is becoming an epidemic for America’s youth. One teen decided he’d had enough after bad eating habits and too little exercise sent his weight spiraling out of control. He developed his diet modeled after a videogame that helped him shed … [Read more...]

Cancer: Stopping Melanoma in its Tracks Reported May 26, 2010 ATLANTA (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- This year, 1.5 million people will be diagnosed with cancer. The goal is to catch the disease before it spreads, increasing the odds of survival. Doctors developed a new kind of surgery that could help some patients stop the cancer in its tracks -- with less risk of another … [Read more...]

Pulsing Away Pain Reported May 25, 2010 BOCA RATON, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Last summer, an FDA panel voted to advise a ban on percocet and vicodin, two of the most commonly-used prescription pain pills in the world. The drugs, they say, are too toxic to the liver. That bold step left many patients -- and their doctors -- wondering how best to treat chronic … [Read more...]

Alzheimer's Genes Don’t Predict Risk   Reported May 13, 2010 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Although researchers have identified genetic variations associated with Alzheimer's disease, a new study shows those variations do not help determine patients who are at risk for the disease. One out of every five people who are 65 … [Read more...]

Breast Cancer: Fighting Disease in 3-D Reported May 21, 2010 ATLANTA (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- One in eight women will develop breast cancer at some point in her lifetime, but more than a quarter of them have dense breast tissue, which means standard mammograms don't always find the tumor. A new experimental 3-D scanner is showing promise for identifying cancers … [Read more...]

Hot-Wiring Failing Hearts Reported May 24, 2010 TAMPA (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- If you’re one of the 5 million Americans living with heart failure, you know that simply waking up is tiring enough to send you back to bed. Now doctors are testing out a new device for heart failure that's already been successful in lowering blood pressure. … [Read more...]

Fighting Elderly AlcoholismReported May 20, 2010 QUEENS, N.Y. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- They're embarrassed, ashamed and many don't feel comfortable asking for help. Experts say more seniors are turning to the bottle to relieve feelings of loneliness and frustration. As many as 17 percent of people over the age of 65 have an alcohol problem. In many cases, no one ever … [Read more...]

Father-Daughter Liver TransplantReported May 17, 2010 NEW YORK (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- There are more than 106,000 people waiting for a liver transplant and less than 15,000 available donors. Doctors want to turn those numbers around by offering living donors a less-invasive surgery. A new transplant helped an entire family survive the scare of their life. They … [Read more...]

Diabetes in Older Women Linked to Colon CancerReported May 10, 2010 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Older women with diabetes face more than double the risk for some types of colorectal cancer. Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer deaths among women in the United States. Diabetes has been identified as a colon cancer risk factor, but the mechanisms are not … [Read more...]

Genetics: Early Warning of Future Breast CancerReported May 14, 2010 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Researchers have been able to show in mice how just a little adjustment in the expression of two common genes can promote the kinds of cellular changes that lead to breast cancer. They say these changes probably mimic natural variations women have in expression of the two … [Read more...]

Too Much Vitamin D: More Falls and FracturesReported May 14, 2010 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Women age 70 years or older who received a single annual high dose of vitamin D had a higher rate of falls and fractures than did women who received placebo. Kerrie M. Sanders, Ph.D., of the University of Melbourne, Geelong, Australia and colleagues conducted a study to examine … [Read more...]

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Women taking hormonal contraceptives were at highest risk of Female Sexual Dysfunction (FSD), while women taking non-hormonal contraceptives were at lowest risk for FSD -- lower than women not using any contraceptive. "Sexual problems can have a negative impact on both quality of life and emotional well-being, regardless of age," researcher Dr. … [Read more...]

Study: Vitamin D Vital for Pregnant Women Reported May 03, 2010 (Ivanhoe Newswire) – Taking vitamin D supplements during pregnancy is not only safe for mother and baby, it can also prevent preterm infections, labor and births.   According to lead author Carol L. Wagner, MD, pediatric researcher at Medical University of South Carolina, in … [Read more...]

Women's early death rate examined   Reported May 01, 2010 Premature death rates among women in Britain are on a par with those in Slovenia and Albania, a study has shown. Men in the UK fare better, according to a worldwide analysis of mortality between 1970 and 2010. Their risk of dying before the age of 60 is typical of that for … [Read more...]

Breast MRI Could Reduce Breast Cancer Recurrences Reported May 04, 2010 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Preoperative breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) prior to surgical intervention to treat breast cancer can reduce the number of localized cancer recurrences by providing more precise information about the location and extent of the disease prior to … [Read more...]

Breast Cancer Risk Factors Differ Among Ethnic Groups Reported April 28, 2010 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Breast cancer occurs more frequently in certain ethnic and racial groups, but the reasons behind these differences are not fully understood. For example, factors known to increase the risk of breast cancer among white women have less influence in … [Read more...]

  (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Diminished bone density, caused by low levels of estrogen common among menopausal women, raises the risk of osteoporosis, bone fractures and subsequent complications. Traditional therapies have sought to maintain the level of estrogen in the body. New research suggests, however, that another hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), also may be … [Read more...]

Vaccine for Urinary Tract Infections: MNBT? Reported April 28, 2010 ANN ARBOR, Mich. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- There's a vaccine for chicken pox, measles, mumps … Now, doctors are working to create the very first vaccine to prevent urinary tract infections. It's a problem that affects one in five women, and men can experience the pain as well. … [Read more...]

Antidepressants, pills cause low libido in women Reported April 23, 2010 Many young women are reporting that they have a low sexual desire, with a new research blaming antidepressants and birth control pills for the problem. Many young women have distress piled on top of the guilt about their lagging sex lives, according to a study by the … [Read more...]

Despite concerns, soy probably safe for thyroid Reported April 14, 2010 NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Despite some concerns to the contrary, the soy-based dietary supplement genistein may not harm postmenopausal women's thyroid function, a new study finds. Genistein is a type of soy isoflavone, a plant chemical that is structurally similar to … [Read more...]

New Gene Associated With Increased Risk of Alzheimer's DiseaseReported April 14, 2010 TORONTO, April 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Researchers have identified a gene that appears to increase a person's risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer's disease, the most common type of Alzheimer's disease. The research is presented as part of the late-breaking science … [Read more...]