Just 38 percent of sexually active young women were screened for chlamydia in the previous year, according to the most recent nationally representative estimate conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC recommends annual screening for all sexually active women aged 25 and under.

Overall testing rates remain low, although testing was most common among African-American women, those who had multiple sex partners, and those who received public insurance or were uninsured. Researchers find this encouraging because these are some of the groups at highest risk for chlamydia.

“This new research makes it clear that we are missing too many opportunities to protect young women from health consequences that can last a lifetime,” said Kevin Fenton, M.D., director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention. “Annual chlamydia screening can protect young women’s reproductive health now and safeguard it for the future.”

Chlamydia is the most commonly reported infectious disease in the United States, and young people are most affected. Because people often do not have symptoms, many infections go undetected and untreated. Untreated chlamydia can have severe long-term health consequences, particularly for young women, including chronic pelvic pain, potentially fatal ectopic pregnancy and infertility.

CDC recommends that anyone diagnosed with chlamydia be retested three months after initial treatment to ensure that those who may have become reinfected can be promptly treated with antibiotics. However, additional data show that retesting rates remain low and many reinfections likely are being missed. By examining available data on more than 60,000 men and women who tested positive for chlamydia CDC  found that just 14 percent of men and 22 percent of women were retested within 30-180 days. Of those who were retested, a significant proportion again tested positive (25 percent of men and 16 percent of women).

“It is critical that health care providers are not only aware of the importance of testing sexually active young women every year for chlamydia infections, but also of retesting anyone who is diagnosed,” said Gail Bolan, M.D., director of the CDC’s Division of STD Prevention. “Chlamydia can be easily treated and cured with antibiotics, and retesting plays a vital role in preventing serious future health consequences.”

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle from young adulthood into your 40s is strongly associated with low cardiovascular disease risk in middle age, according to a new Northwestern Medicine® study.

“The problem is few adults can maintain ideal cardiovascular health factors as they age,” said Kiang Liu, PhD, first author of the study. “Many middle-aged adults develop unhealthy diets, gain weight, and aren’t as physically active. Such lifestyles, of course, lead to high blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes and elevated cardiovascular risk.”

“In this study, even people with a family history of heart problems were able to have a low cardiovascular disease risk profile if they started living a healthy lifestyle when they were young,” Liu said. “This supports the notion that lifestyle may play a more prominent role than genetics.”   Published Feb. 28 in the journal Circulation, this is the first study to show the association of a healthy lifestyle maintained throughout young adulthood and middle age with low cardiovascular disease risk in middle age.

The majority of people who maintained five healthy lifestyle factors from young adulthood (including a lean body mass index (BMI), no excess alcohol intake, no smoking, a healthy diet and regular physical activity) were able to remain in this low-risk category in their middle-aged years.

In the first year of the study, when the participants’ average age was 24 years old, nearly 44 percent had a low cardiovascular disease risk profile. Twenty years later, overall, only 24.5 percent fell into the category of a low cardiovascular disease risk profile.    Sixty percent of those who maintained all five healthy lifestyles reached middle age with the low cardiovascular risk profile, compared with fewer than 5 percent who followed none of the healthy lifestyles.

If the next generation of young people adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles, they will gain more than heart health, Liu stressed.

“Many studies suggest that people who have low cardiovascular risk in middle age will have a better quality of life, will live longer and will have lower Medicare costs in their older age,” he said. “There are a lot of benefits to maintaining a low-risk profile.”

Liu is a professor and the associate chair for research in the Department of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Source:  Erin White, Northwestern NewsCenter

Women’s History Month is an important time of reflection and celebration for all Americans. We recognize the extraordinary accomplishments of women throughout history, and we celebrate the power of their vital contributions to science, medicine and women's empowerment. Here are a just a few of the many accomplishments done by women in the last century and a half.  Many of them were true pioneers in women's health!

1835, Harriot Kezie Hunt opens her own medical practice focusing on women and children.  Because she is female, she is barred from hospitals and lectures at Harvard.

1849, Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first US woman to receive an MD degree.

1855,  physician Emeline Horton Cleveland practices gynecology and breaks down barriers against women doctors.  She performed operations to remove ovarian tumors; these are judged to be the first recorded instance of major surgery performed by a women.

1872, physician Mary Putnam Jacobi founds the Association for Advancement of the Medical Education of Women.

1895, Mary Engle Pennington is denied a BS degree at U of Pennsylvania because of her gender but later earns a PhD and does research on bacteria and refrigeration that leads to safer eggs, poultry and fish.

1905, biologist and cytogeneticist Nettie Stevens contributes to the understanding of chromosomes, particularly the X and Y chromosomes.

1916, Margaret Sanger opens the first birth control clinic, saying "Women must have her freedom, the fundamental freedom of choosing whether or not she will be a mother and how many children she will have.  Regardless of what man's attitude may be, the problem is hers--and before it can be his, it is hers alone.  She goes through the vale of death alone, each time a babe is born.  As it is the right neither of man nor the state to coerce her into this ordeal, so it is her right to decide whether she will endure it."

1917, microbiologist, Alice Evans discovers the bacterium responsible for undulant fever which leads to pasteurization of all milk.

1937, Hattie Alexander, bacteriologist and pediatrician, developed the first effective treatment for the once fatal influenza meningitis.

1947, biochemist and physician, Gerty Radniz Cori, was the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize in science for her work in understanding how the body metabolizes carbohydrates (the Cori cycle).

1952, Virginia Apner, physician, developed a series of rapid checks (Apner scores) still done today for use on newborns to determine if they need immediate medical attention.

1953, Mary Steichen Calderone become the medical director of Planned Parenthood and drew attention to women's health providers about the dangers of illegal abortion.

1962, pharmacologist and physician Frances Kelsey prevents the drug thalidomide, which causes birth defects, from entering the United States.

1965, Judith  Graham Pool identifies Factor VIII, the clotting factor that is responsible for the most common type of hemophilia.   She developed a way to manufacture it so it can be given to humans to stop them from dire bleeding episodes.

1977, physicist Rosalyn Yalow receives the Nobel Prize for her work in developing radioimmunoassay, a technique that uses radioactive isotopes to measure small amounts of biological substance what is widespread today.

1983, Sally Ride is the first American woman to orbit the earth while aboard the space shuttle Challenger.

1990, physician Antonia Novello is the first woman and first Latina appointed U.S.  surgeon general.

1991, cardiologist Bernadine Healy, became the first woman to head the US National Institutes of Health.  She was instrumental in creating the the Women's Health Initiative, in response to the lack of  research on older women.

2006, reproductive scientist, Teresa Woodruff, coins the term 'oncofertility' to represent the merging of two disciplines, fertility and cancer, to explore ways to to help women and girls who lose their fertility as a result of cancer treatments and to enable them to have children once their cancer is treated.

Today, women continue to face many obstacles when it comes to education and health but we are making progress.We are inspired by the great pioneers of our past, and we challenge Americans everywhere to consider how we each can make our own unique contribution to ensure justice in health care and to improve the lives of women and girls.

Source:  Her Story by Waisman and Tietjen, 2008

 High heel shoes can cause a number of foot problems, yet most women aren’t willing to give their shoes the boot, according to podiatrists at Loyola University Health System (LUHS). Ingrown toenails are among the most common problems that result from high heels. This condition, also known as onychocryptosis, occurs when the toes compress together making the big toenails grow into the skin.

High heels and tight-fitting or pointed-toe shoes create chronic pressure on the big toenails and prevent them from growing properly. Additionally, shoe pressure can cause the nail to puncture the skin leading to infection. Other causes can include trauma to the nail or fungal infections.

“Ingrown toenails can be painful, but many women are willing to cope with the discomfort in order to continue wearing their high heels,” said Rodney Stuck, DPM, professor of Podiatry Medicine, LUHS. “However, more serious complications can arise and cause permanent damage to the toenail, if they are left untreated.”

Dr. Stuck encourages women who wear heels to take these steps to manage ingrown toenails and prevent infection:

•Cut out a cardboard tracing of each foot and attempt to place it in the shoe when shopping for a new pair. If it does not fit, then the shoes are too narrow;
•Refrain from wearing tight hosiery;
•Limit the amount of time in heels;
•Wear heels on days that require limited walking or standing;
•Trim toenails straight across the top;
•Short soak of feet in lukewarm, soapy water or Epsom salts;
•Dry feet and toes thoroughly with a clean towel;
•Use a mild antiseptic solution on the toes.

If pain, swelling and discharge develop, the toe is likely infected. It will need to be treated by a podiatrist who may remove a portion of the affected nail to aid in treating the infection. If the condition recurs or persists, permanent removal of the nail can be accomplished with a minor, in-office surgical procedure.

Dr. Stuck warns that people with diabetes should be particularly careful of ingrown toenails. These individuals may have poor circulation, which makes healing difficult. They also may be more susceptible to nerve damage from their diabetes, which can prevent them from feeling pain in their feet.  “If diabetic women do not feel discomfort, they may neglect to treat the ingrown toenails until it is too late,” Dr. Stuck said. “If ignored, this condition, which is easily treatable, can lead to an amputation.”

In general, if you give your feet the attention they need, they will look and feel healthy. A bit of extra care will allow women who prefer fashionable high heels to continue to wear them.

©2012 Newswise

Source: Loyola University Health System