Uterine Fibroids
Posted by on November 19, 2010 - 10:25am

Uterine fibroids are the most common, non-cancerous tumors in women of childbearing age. The fibroids are made of muscle cells and other tissues that grow within and around the wall of the uterus.   See the diagram that shows where uterine fibroids may grow.

There are several risk factors for uterine fibroids:

  • African American woman are at three- to five-times greater risk than white women for fibroids.
  • Women who are overweight or obese for their height are at greater risk.
  • Women who have given birth are a lower risk.

Many women with uterine fibroids have no symptoms. Symptoms of uterine fibroids can include:

  • Heavy or painful periods, or bleeding between periods
  • Feeling “full” in the lower abdomen
  • Urinating often
  • Pain during sex
  • Lower back pain
  • Reproductive problems, such as infertility, multiple miscarriages, or early labor

Most women with fibroids do not have problems with fertility and can get pregnant. However, some women with fibroids may not be able to get pregnant naturally,  but advances in treatments for infertility may help some of these women get pregnant.

If you have uterine fibroids, but show no symptoms, you many not need any treatment.  Women who have pain and other symptoms might benefit from treatment which includes medication and/or surgery.   Medications can offer relief from the symptoms of fibroids and even slow or stop their growth. But, once you stop taking the medicine, the fibroids often grow back. There are several types of fibroid surgery:

  • Myomectomy – Removes only the fibroids and leaves the healthy areas of the uterus in place
  • Uterine Artery Embolization (UAE) – Cuts off the blood supply to the uterus and fibroids, making them shrink
  • Hysterectomy - A more major procedure that removes the uterus; this type of surgery is the only sure way to cure fibroids.

For more details about treatments for fibroids, see the free booklet from the NICHD.

In addition, if you have fibroids and need support, the Fibroids Project is a one-stop shop for women with uterine fibroids created by a women with who has been there.

Today is the Great American Smokeout
Posted by on November 18, 2010 - 3:42pm

Today Is the Great American Smokeout--November 18--time to Quit!

Quitting smoking is not easy, but it can be done.

An estimated 69.7 million Americans age 12 or older use tobacco products. Smokers are urged by federal agencies to become nonsmokers during the 35th annual Great American Smokeout. The Great American Smokeout is dedicated to reducing the risk of cancer by helping those who struggle with smoking develop a plan to quit and lead a healthier lifestyle. On November 18, smokers nationwide will make the choice to either quit on this date or set in motion a plan that leads to cutting back and subsequently quitting.

Support the Great American Smokeout and help support the fight against cancer each year by making your commitment to quit smoking today. If you know someone who uses tobacco, support their efforts to quit by telling them about the Great American Smokeout.

Here are some related resources for our readers!

SmokeFree Women

Tips for Teens: The Truth About Tobacco

Free materials from the FDA Office on Women's Health

"Light" cigarettes and cancer risk.

Women, Smoking and Weight Gain

Public Comment Invited on Review of Nitrous Oxide for Labor Pain Relief
Posted by on November 17, 2010 - 12:48pm

The following blog was posted on the Our Bodies Ourselves Blog and we felt it may be of interest to some of our followers.
Posted: 11 Nov 2010 08:28 AM PST
Many of you may already be familiar with the systematic and comparative effectiveness reviews produced by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), such as these reviews of the available evidence for birth-related interventions such as labor induction, maternal request c-section, VBAC, and episiotomy.

Recently, AHRQ has become more active in soliciting public input to the review process, and today they posted for public comment the key questions and background materials for a review that will be conducted soon, Comparative Effectiveness of Nitrous Oxide for the Management of Labor Pain.

Nitrous oxide is commonly available to women for labor pain relief in many other countries, but is almost completely unavailable as an option for women in the United States. The comparative effectiveness review on this topic will examine the available evidence and look at specific questions such as its effectiveness, adverse effects, effects on women’s satisfaction with their birth experience and pain management, and health system factors influencing whether nitrous oxide is available to women who would like that option.

The public is invited to comment on this list of key questions to be addressed by the review, and can also review some background information describing the current use of nitrous oxide in the United States, the nature of the available literature, and the outcomes the review will examine.
Public comment is being accepted through December 8, 2010 via this online form; the site also provides a document to download and submit by mail if you prefer.

This project is of particular interest to me because of my work with the AHRQ Evidence-based Practice Center conducting this review. I have been involved with this topic in its preliminary stages by helping to examine the literature and writing up background information to inform the feasibility and potential impact of a full comparative effectiveness review. I will continue to be involved with the project team when the full review begins, and of course will update here when the review is completed and released.

For additional discussion of nitrous oxide for labor pain relief, please see our 2008 post with guest commentary from Judith Rooks, who has been advocating for expanded access to this choice for U.S. women.

Soy may Stop Prostate Cancer Spread
Posted by on November 15, 2010 - 12:45pm

As an Institute that promotes sex and gender research, here is another blog of particular interest to the male side of the equation!

Experimental soy-based drug shows benefits in men with localized prostate cancer

CHICAGO --- Northwestern Medicine researchers at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University have found that a new, nontoxic drug made from a chemical in soy could prevent the movement of cancer cells from the prostate to the rest of the body.

Genistein, a natural chemical found in soy, is being used in the lab of Raymond Bergan, M.D., the director of experimental therapeutics at the Lurie Cancer Center, to inhibit prostate cancer cells from becoming metastatic and spreading to other parts of the body. So far the cancer therapy drug has worked in preclinical animal studies and now shows benefits in humans with prostate cancer.

A recent phase II randomized study of 38 men with localized prostate cancer found that genistein, when given once a day as a pill, one month prior to surgery, had beneficial effects on prostate cancer cells.

Researchers examined the cancer cells from the subjects’ prostates after surgery and found that genistein increased the expression of genes that suppress the invasion of cancer cells and decreased the expression of genes that enhance invasion.

“The first step is to see if the drug has the effect that you want on the cells and the prostate, and the answer is ‘yes, it does,’” said Bergan, a professor of hematology and oncology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

The next step is to conduct another phase II study to see if the drug can stop the cancer cells from moving out of the prostate and into the rest of the body, Bergan said. If confirmed, Bergan said this could be the first therapy for any cancer that is non-toxic and targets and inhibits cancer cell movement.

“All therapies designed to stop cancer cell movement that have been tested to date in humans have basically failed have because they have been ineffective or toxic,” Bergan said. “If this drug can effectively stop prostate cancer from moving in the body, theoretically, a similar therapy could have the same effect on the cells of other cancers.”

Written by Erin White

Alzheimer's Impacts Women Harder than Men
Posted by on November 12, 2010 - 10:59am

Alzheimer's disease affects twice as many women as it does men, according to a new report that portrays women as being "under siege" by the dreaded condition.

Created in conjunction with California first lady Maria Shriver, "The Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Takes on Alzheimer's" shows that two-thirds of the people living with Alzheimer's are women, and 60 percent of Alzheimer's caregivers are women.  Shriver became involved in the issue when her father, Sargent Shriver, 94, was diagnosed with the disease in 2003.

The report finds that primary caregivers to Alzheimer's patients are six times more likely to develop the disease, or other forms of dementia, themselves, in part because of the emotional stress and physical demands of providing care to relatives and loved ones.

The estimated societal impact of the disease on government and businesses is $300 billion a year, according to the report.

Scripps Howard News Service

FDA Want Public Input on New Tobacco Labels
Posted by on November 12, 2010 - 10:56am

Federal regulators are testing the waters with the first proposed changes to cigarette packaging and advertisements in more than 25 years—bold health warnings with color images that show the tragic consequences of smoking.

On Nov. 10, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) posted on the Internet 36 images showing the dangers of smoking. Federal health agencies hope the new warnings will discourage Americans from smoking by bringing them face-to-face with the cancers that plague smokers.

Under 2009’s Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, cigarette packages and advertisements must carry more pointed health warnings with color images after Sept. 12, 2012. FDA is beginning the process by publishing a proposal in the Federal Register that outlines new packaging and advertising requirements for cigarette makers.

FDA Invites Public Comment

FDA is asking the public to weigh-in on the images. When the public comment period ends on Jan. 9, 2011, FDA will use the comments, research results, and scientific research to pare the list to nine. The final set of images and the congressionally mandated health warnings will rotate on all cigarette packaging and in advertisements by fall 2012.

By law, the nine warnings that must appear on cigarette advertisements and packaging are:

  • WARNING: Cigarettes are addictive
  • WARNING: Tobacco smoke can harm your children
  • WARNING: Cigarettes cause fatal lung disease
  • WARNING: Cigarettes cause cancer
  • WARNING: Cigarettes cause strokes and heart disease
  • WARNING: Smoking during pregnancy can harm your baby
  • WARNING: Smoking can kill you
  • WARNING: Tobacco smoke causes fatal lung disease in nonsmokers
  • WARNING: Quitting smoking now greatly reduces serious risks to your health

Once in place, each warning will accompany a color image, and they’ll be splashed over 50 percent of the front and rear panels of all cigarette packages and at least 20 percent of each advertisement.

Preventable Deaths

If the requirements seem tough, they’re intended to be. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says tobacco use is the single biggest cause of preventable death in the United States—killing more than 443,000 users and victims of secondhand smoke and causing serious illness in 8.6 million Americans.

The new warnings will be required on cigarette packages no later than Sept. 22, 2012

Where to See the Warnings and Where to Comment

Flickr LOGOTo view the warning labels, go to: www.flickr.com/photos/fdaphotos/collections/72157625232230587/

To submit comments on the warning labels and the proposed rule—between Friday, Nov. 12, 2010, through Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011:

  • Go to www.regulations.gov and insert docket number FDA-2010-N-0568 into the “search” box and follow the prompts.
  • Send a fax, with your comments, to 301-827-6870.
  • Mail/Hand delivery/Courier (for paper, disk, or CD-ROM submissions) to the Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.

All comments should be identified by Docket ID No. FDA-2010-N-0568. It is only necessary to send one set of comments.

November is Diabetes Awareness Month
Posted by on November 12, 2010 - 10:51am

In celebration of National Diabetes Awareness Month, the Institute for Women's Health Research focused its November 2010 e-newsletter on this topic.  It is available free at  IWHRenewsNov10-1.

Update on Institute for Women's Health Research
Posted by on November 11, 2010 - 3:54pm

The following press release about the Institute for Women's Health Research at Northwestern University was issued today.   If you want to learn more about us and what we are doing, check the link.

Potential to Predict Early Menopause?
Posted by on November 10, 2010 - 9:28am

The first research from the Breakthrough Generations Study could lead to a test to predict a woman's reproductive lifespan.

The findings, published in Human Molecular Genetics, could have considerable impact on women in the United Kingdom (UK) and other western countries, where many start having children at a later age. Early menopause affects one in 20 UK women.

The study from scientists at the University of Exeter Peninsula Medical School and The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), funded by The Wellcome Trust, tested four genes associated with the menopause. They compared 2,000 women from the Breakthrough Generations Study who had experienced early menopause with a matched group of the same number. The four genes each affected risk of early menopause. In combination, they had a larger impact, which goes towards explaining why some women experience early menopause.

The Breakthrough Generations Study is a large and comprehensive study into the causes of breast cancer and a partnership between Breakthrough Breast Cancer and the ICR. The study will follow the 100,000 UK women participants for the next 40 years to unravel the lifestyle, environmental and genetic factors that cause the disease.

Although early menopause is associated with a decreased risk of breast cancer, women who experience early menopause are susceptible to other health problems including osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease and a reduction in fertility.

The research could help women determine whether they have a genetic predisposition to early menopause, and therefore predict the time of the end of their reproductive life. They could then make informed family planning decisions on the basis of this knowledge.

Lead scientist Dr Anna Murray, from the University of Exeter Peninsula Medical School, says, "It is estimated that a woman's ability to conceive decreases on average ten years before she starts the menopause. Therefore, those who are destined to have an early menopause and delay childbearing until their 30s are more likely to have problems conceiving.

"These findings are the first stage in developing an easy and relatively inexpensive genetic test which could help the one in 20 UK women who may be affected by early menopause."

Source:   Hum Mol Genet. 2010 Oct 26. [Epub ahead of print]

Stroke Survival Greater for Men than Women after Hospital Treatment
Posted by on November 8, 2010 - 2:52pm

Between 2000 and 2007, the death rate of men treated in hospitals for stroke tumbled by 29 percent compared to a 24 percent decline for women, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

Men's faster decline in death rate widened the death rate disparity even more. Men's death rate for every 1,000 admissions for stroke went from 123 in 2000 to 87 in 2009, compared with women's 127 deaths in 2000 to 96 deaths per 1,000 admissions in 2007.

The Federal agency found other gender variations in hospital deaths rates during the period as well:

  • Men's heart failure death rate fell by 52 percent compared with women's 46 percent. But men were about as likely to die from heart failure in 2007 as women—28 deaths versus 29 deaths, respectively, per 1,000 admissions.
  • Conversely, women's heart attack death rate fell slightly more than men's—39 percent versus 37 percent. But by 2007, women hospitalized for heart attack were still more likely than men to die—77 deaths versus men's 58 death per 1,000 heart attack admissions.
  • Regardless of gender, people who had private insurance experienced decreases in heart attack and heart failure death rates of 32 percent and 41 percent, respectively while Medicaid patients experienced declines of 27 percent and 34 percent for the same conditions. Medicare patients' death rates fell by 38 percent and 51 percent—the most for both conditions.

This AHRQ News and Numbers is based on data in Trends in Hospital Risk-Adjusted Mortality for Selected Diagnoses by Patient Subgroups, 2000-2007.

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