Posted by on April 23, 2012 - 9:54am

Sexual violence is a serious public health problem in the United States and world wide! Statistics underestimate the problem because many victims are afraid to tell the police, family, or friends about the violence. In the United States, 1 in 5 women and 1 in 71 men report that they have experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime. In addition, nearly 1 in 2 women and 1 in 5 men report that they have experienced sexual violence victimization other that rape in their lifetime.  Globally, one in four women will likely experience sexual violence by an intimate partner and one in three girls report their first sexual experience being forced, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Sexual violence is any sexual activity where consent is not freely given. This includes completed or attempted sex acts that are against the victim's will or involve a victim who is unable to consent. It also includes abusive sexual contact and noncontact sexual abuse (such as verbal sexual harassment). Child sexual abuse is also considered sexual violence.

This type of violence can be committed by anyone - a current or former intimate partner, a family member, a person in position of power or trust, a friend, an acquaintance, someone known only by sight, or a stranger.

Sexual violence impacts health in many ways and can lead to long-term health and emotional problems. Victims may experience chronic pain, headaches, and sexually transmitted diseases. They are often fearful or anxious, and may have problems trusting others. Anger and stress can lead to eating disorders, depression, and even suicidal thoughts.

If you are, or know someone who is, the victim of sexual violence, contact the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE or contact your local emergency services at 9-1-1.

Source:  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Posted by on April 22, 2012 - 6:29am

Heart disease is the leading cause of death among women, and evidence-based national guidelines promote the use of daily aspirin for women at increased risk for cardiovascular disease. However, less than half of the women who could benefit from aspirin are taking it, according to an article  available free online at the Journal of Women's Health website*.

"Based on this survey, it is evident that the majority of women for whom aspirin is recommended for prevention of cardiovascular disease are not following national guidelines," says Susan G. Kornstein, MD,  Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women's Health.

Among more than 200,000 women participating in a web-based survey to assess their risk for cardiovascular disease, only 41%-48% of women for whom aspirin is recommended reported that they took an aspirin daily, according to the study authors, Cathleen Rivera, MD and Texas-based colleagues. The women were more likely to use aspirin if they had a family history of cardiovascular disease or had high cholesterol, as reported in the article "Underuse of Aspirin for Primary and Secondary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease Events in Women." The authors conclude that improved educational programs are needed to increase awareness of the benefits of aspirin use to prevent heart disease among women.

References:
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News  "Should More Women Take A Daily Aspirin To Prevent Heart Disease?." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 9 Apr. 2012. Web.
12 Apr. 2012.

Posted by on April 20, 2012 - 9:10am

Have you noticed Salmonella and other food borne illnesses are on the rise---everywhere.    While we rely on government agencies to keep our restaurants inspected and food handling industries regulated, at the home level, it's up to us!.  The kitchen is the germiest room in the house-- teeming with billions of microorganisms on countertops, refrigerators and cutting boards. And the worse culprit:   the kitchen sponge!

If you are a sponge user, you are likely  using it to wipe out the refrigerator, spills on the counter top, cleaning out your sink.  So unless you change your sponge daily, you are basically moving germs from one place to another.  Microwaving them or putting then in the dishwasher cycle, according to experts, does not guarantee germ removal unless you have sterilization cycles.   Better options are to use paper towels or a clean cloth that can be thrown into the clothes washer after each use.  If you can't break the sponge habit, soak them in a solution of bleach (one cup bleach per gallon of water) or vinegar and let air dry.

I confess that I use a sponge in the kitchen but limit use to  soapy dishes--and I buy lots of sponges at discount stores in bulk so they can be discarded weekly.  Paper towels are my choice for countertops and spills---though my recycling friends frown on this excessive use of paper!  Any other thoughts?

 

 

Posted by on April 19, 2012 - 6:13am

A migraine is the most common type of headache that propels patients to seek care from their doctors. Roughly 30 million Americans suffer from migraine headaches, with women affected almost three times more often than men, according to statistics from the National Headache Foundation in Chicago. Today's blog incorporates  an article by Jennifer Wider, MD of the Society for Women's Health Research.

"Hormonal changes are a big contributor to the higher female incidence,” said Michael A. Moskowitz, MD, Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “There are lines of evidence that support this from lab to clinical evidence and a decrease (although not abolished) incidence in post-menopausal females.”

Migraine headaches can vary from person to person, but they typically last from four hours up to 72 hours. Some people get them several times per month, while others experience them much less frequently. Many migraine sufferers report throbbing or pulsating pain on one side of the head, blurred vision, sensitivity to light and sound, nausea, and vomiting.  Roughly one in five migraine sufferers experience an aura, or visual or sensory disturbance, before the onset of the headache. Examples of an aura include: flashes of light, loss of vision, zig-zag lines, pins and needles in an arm or leg, and speech and language problems.

Several risk factors have been identified that increase a person’s chance of having migraines:

  • Family history: A significant majority of migraine sufferers have a family history of migraine attacks. For a person who has one or more first-degree relatives with migraine headaches, the likelihood rises substantially.
  • Age: Migraines typically affect people between the ages of 15-55. Most people have had their first attack by 40 years old.
  • Gender: Women are more likely to suffer from migraines than men.
  • Certain medical conditions: depression, anxiety, stroke, epilepsy, and high blood pressure are all associated with migraine headaches.
  • Hormonal changes: Women who suffer from migraines often find that the headaches have a pattern of recurrence just before or shortly after the onset of menstruation. The headaches may also change during pregnancy and/or menopause.

Migraines are vascular headaches but the exact cause is not fully understood. Some researchers believe that migraines occur when there are abnormal changes in the brain. When these changes occur, inflammation causes blood vessels to swell and press on nerves, which can result in pain.

Researchers have learned that certain triggers can set off migraine attacks. These triggers vary from person to person and can include: sleep disturbances, stress, weather changes, low blood sugar, dehydration, bright lights and loud noises, hormonal changes, foods that contain aspartame, foods that contain tyramine (fava beans, aged cheeses, soy products, etc.), caffeine, and alcohol.

Unfortunately, migraines have no known cure, but they can be managed effectively with the help of a health care provider. A variety of drugs can be used for pain relief and for prevention. Lifestyle changes are often recommended to identify and eliminate possible triggers that can set off an attack.

“Until recently there have been no treatments available to treat people who suffer from chronic migraines,” said Moskowitz. However, she does mention that BOTOX has been helpful in some cases as was discussed in one of our earlier blogs. Chronic migraine sufferers have also found relief in certain vitamins and other homeopathic remedies. But patients should check with their doctors for proper treatment protocols.
Jennifer Wider, MD
SWHR, Contributing Writer

Posted by on April 17, 2012 - 3:31pm

Edie Falco, 9 year survivor

An overwhelming number of breast cancer patients and survivors say that talking to other survivors is key to dealing with the disease.  The findings, the result of a new national poll of breast cancer patients and survivors, inspired Edie Falco, the award-winning actress of the hit series Nurse Jackie and 9-year cancer survivor to join forces with Y-ME, a national breast cancer organization focused on the needs of survivors and patients.

“I didn’t know that it mattered so much to speak with someone who had been through it.  I was like a deer in the headlights,” said Ms. Falco.  “I kept my diagnosis private but could have used an anonymous friend who’d been there to talk about the stuff you are left to deal with because the doctors don’t talk about it.  ‘Am I going to lose my hair?  When will it happen?  Were you scared?  Does your family know?’  I’m helping Y-ME because its mission is near to my heart.”

The poll, conducted by Whitman Insight Strategies for Y-ME, found that 84% of breast cancer patients and survivors say talking to another survivor is one of the most important ways of dealing with the disease, and 68% wish that they could have been connected to other survivors.  A whopping 95% said it was important to have a 24-hour hotline for fellow survivors yet only 14 % were aware that such an organization exists today.

The CEO of Y-ME and cancer survivor, Cindy Geoghegan, says she hopes these findings will shift the focus of the breast cancer movement to patient-focused support and advocacy.   Y-ME runs a 24/7 helpline that is answered by trained peer breast cancer survivors.  They can be reached at  800-221-2141 or visit their website. (www.y-me.org)

Posted by on April 15, 2012 - 7:50am

Spending time on a bicycle seat, which has been linked to erectile dysfunction in men, may also be a hazard to a woman’s sexual health, a new study shows.

Many women who cycle or take spin classes are familiar with the numbness that sometimes can occur from sitting on a traditional bike seat. Bike seats are designed in such a way that body weight typically rests on the nose of the seat, which can compress nerves and blood vessels in the genital area. In men, this raises the risk of erectile dysfunction, something that has been documented in studies of male police officers on bicycle patrol.

But female cyclists have not been studied as closely. A study by Yale researchers in 2006 found that female cyclists had less genital sensation compared with a control group of female runners. As a result, some scientists believe that female cyclists probably are at similar risk for sexual problems as male riders.  In the latest study, the Yale researchers tried to determine whether there are specific factors that influence soreness and numbness among female riders. Forty-eight women took part in the study, each a consistent rider who cycled a minimum of 10 miles a week, but typically much more. The researchers mounted the women's bikes on a stationary machine in their lab and observed the women's biking positions.  It was the position of the handlebars that seemed to have the most effect. Women on bikes with handlebars positioned lower than their seats experienced more pressure in an area of soft tissue called the perineum, and had decreased sensation in the pelvic floor.

The researchers found that the lower the handlebars in relation to the saddle, the more a woman has to lean forward, forcing her to put a greater percentage of her body weight on the perineum. This problem is particularly likely to occur when a rider leans forward, flattens her back and puts her hands on the “drop bars” of a road or track bicycle for a more aerodynamic position.

“We’re basically showing that there may be modifiable risk factors associated with female riders,” said Dr. Marsha K. Guess, an author of the study and an assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the Yale School of Medicine. “This better positions us to educate riders on safe riding practices that may actually be beneficial to reduction of pressure and lost sensation in the pelvic floor.”

The findings, published online in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, help shed further light on the problems faced by female riders but more study is needed.

 

 

 

Posted by on April 13, 2012 - 10:51am

A type of exercise called pelvic floor muscle training is effective for treating adult women with urinary incontinence (the involuntary loss of urine) without risk of side effects, according to a new report from the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The report also found that drug-based treatments can be effective, but the degree of benefit is low and side effects are common.

"Urinary incontinence can affect women in a variety of ways, including physically, psychologically and socially—and some of these impacts can be severe," said AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D. "This new report will help women and their clinicians work together to find the best treatment option based on each patient's individual circumstances."

Urinary incontinence is extremely common in adult women, affecting approximately 25 percent of young women, up to 57 percent of middle-aged and postmenopausal women, and approximately 75 percent of older women in nursing homes. The condition can impose significant, potentially debilitating lifestyle restrictions. The cost of incontinence care in the United States averaged $19.5 billion in 2004, and by one estimate the annualized cost of women's nursing home admissions due to urinary incontinence was $3 billion. Six percent of nursing home admissions of older women are attributable to urinary incontinence.

Researchers concentrated on two kinds of incontinence: stress incontinence, or the inability to retain urine during coughing or sneezing; and urgency incontinence, which is an involuntary loss of urine associated with the sensation of a sudden, compelling urge to urinate that is difficult to defer. Both types usually occur when the urinary sphincter fails, often as a result of weak pelvic floor muscles, which support the uterus, bladder, and other pelvic organs.

Exercises to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, similar to Kegel exercises, were found to be effective in increasing women's ability to hold their urine. Pelvic floor muscle training combined with bladder training improved mixed (stress and urgency) incontinence, the report found. Estrogen treatment was found to be effective in treating stress incontinence, but with some side effects. Another drug treatment, the antidepressant duloxetine, was not found to be effective, while carrying high risk of side effects.

Overall, the report found that the drugs reviewed showed similar effectiveness. However, with some drugs, more women discontinued treatment due to bothersome side effects. The report provides comprehensive information about side effects with each drug to help clinicians and patients choose treatments with the most benefits and least harms.

Researchers said that while there is much evidence on clinical measures for treatment of urinary incontinence, such as grams of urine lost, there are fewer measures of quality of life related to the condition and its treatments.  The full report and summary publications for consumers and clinicians are available  HERE

 

Posted by on April 11, 2012 - 10:45am

Women take longer to give birth today than did women 50 years ago, according to an analysis of nearly 140,000 deliveries conducted by researchers at the National Institutes of Health.

The researchers compared data on deliveries in the early 1960s to data gathered in the early 2000s. They found that the first stage of labor had increased by 2.6 hours for first-time mothers. For women who had previously given birth, this early stage of labor took two hours longer in recent years than for women in the 1960s. The first stage of labor is the stage during which the cervix dilates, before active pushing begins.

Infants born in the contemporary group vs those from the 1960s

  • Tended to weigh more
  • Were born 5 days earlier, on average

Women today vs the 1960s

  • Weighed more
  • Were, on average, four years older at the time of birth

The women in the contemporary cohort had an average pre-pregnancy Body Mass Index  of 24.9. A BMI of 25 is considered overweight. Overweight and obesity raise the risk of pregnancy complications for mother and baby. Women who are overweight or obese and who would like to become pregnant should speak with their health care provider about losing weight before becoming pregnant.“Older mothers tend to take longer to give birth than do younger mothers,” said the study's lead author, S. Katherine Laughon, M.D., of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). “But when we take maternal age into account, it doesn't completely explain the difference in labor times.”

Changes in delivery practice the researchers found included an increase in the use of epidural anesthesia (half of recent deliveries, compared with 4 percent of deliveries in the 1960s.) Doctors in the early 2000s also administered the hormone oxytocin more frequently (in 31 percent of deliveries, compared with 12 percent in the 1960s), the researchers found. Oxytocin is given to speed up labor, often when contractions seem to have slowed. "Its use should be expected to shorten labor times, " Dr. Laughon explained, “ and without it, labor might even be longer in current obstetrics than what we found".

Other differences between the two groups reflect changes in later stage delivery practices. For example, in 1960s-era deliveries the use of episiotomy (surgical incision to enlarge the vaginal opening during delivery), and the use of forceps, surgical instruments used to extract the baby from the birth canal, was notably more common than they are today.

In current practice, doctors may intervene when labor fails to progress. This could happen if the dilation of the cervix slows or the active phase of labor stops for several hours, Dr. Laughon explained. In these cases, intervention can include administering oxytocin or performing a cesarean delivery.

In fact, the study found that the rate of cesarean delivery was four times higher today than it was 50 years ago (12 percent vs. 3 percent).

The authors note that while their study does not identify all the factors contributing to longer delivery times, the findings do indicate that current delivery practices may need to be re-evaluated.The study authors called for further research to determine whether modern delivery practices are contributing to the increase in labor duration.

Their analysis was published online in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Posted by on April 7, 2012 - 1:39pm

While we continue to fight for  access to health care (pending the US Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act) it's rewarding to see that work continues on economic and job issues.   U.S.  Senator Tom Harkin recently  introduced the Rebuild America Act, which would improve economic security for women and their families.

According to the National Women's Law Center, the Rebuild America Act recognizes the need for quantity and quality when it comes to job creation. The bill provides funding to help states and localities hire teachers and other public service workers — an especially crucial sector for women, who have lost nearly 70 percent of the public sector jobs cut since June of 2009. It also invests in infrastructure and manufacturing — and increases support for job training and education to expand access to these jobs among underrepresented populations.

Other feature of the bill  would increase the minimum wage and the tipped minimum wage, advancing fair pay for women who represent nearly two-thirds of minimum wage workers; provide significant new funding to make child care more affordable for families, help states improve the quality of child care, and increase the supply of high-quality programs in low-income communities; give workers access to paid sick days, which could also be used to care for a sick child or aged parent; and improve Social Security benefits. And these critical investments would be financed by ensuring that the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share of taxes and closing tax loopholes.

This is not a slam dunk deal and we need to continue monitoring this legislation along with actions related to the Affordable Care Act.

 

Posted by on April 5, 2012 - 10:34am

We tend to think of rural women's issues in the context of the developing world. But in America rural women also struggle. One of the big factors in rural poverty is the lack of access to decent health services. On March 30,2012, Worldview, a weekly talk show on WBEZ radio, a PBS affiliate, explored rural women’s health issues and needs in the U.S. with Sharon Green, the executive director of Northwestern University's Institute for Women's Health Research. She tells us about the difficulties of attaining proper care and how the Affordable Care Act could improve or complicate the lot of rural women.  To listen to the interview  CLICK HERE

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