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Low income women less likely to be screened for cancer in Ontario

Less than half of Ontario women with abnormal Pap tests receive recommended and potentially life-saving follow-up care, according to a new women's health study by researchers at St. Michael's Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES). What's more, low-income women are less likely to be screened for cancer compared to their high-income counterparts.

20 Aug 2009

IVF treatment not to be combined with alternative therapies

Women who are desperately trying to get pregnant might want to avoid complementary and alternative medicine. The common belief is that it won't hurt to try alternative fertility treatments before reverting to in vitro fertilization (IVF). But a new study from Denmark finds that the success of IVF treatment is 30% lower among women who have used alternative medicine.

19 Aug 2009

Women air concerns on government takeover of health care

300,000 American women with breast cancer might have died over the last decade, if the US had adopted a British-style, government-run health care system. This shocking figure, from recent studies by the Lewin Group and Lancet Oncology, appears in a TV ad launched today by The Independent Women's Forum, a non-profit organization focused on issues of concern for women. The 60-second spot highlights the deadly risks to women under the "public option" - or co-op - plan currently under consideration in Congress.

19 Aug 2009

Low-dose estrogen effective for metastatic breast cancer

When estrogen-lowering drugs no longer control metastatic breast cancer, the opposite strategy might work. Raising estrogen levels benefited 30 percent of women whose metastatic breast cancer no longer responded to standard anti-estrogen treatment, according to research conducted at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and collaborating institutions.

19 Aug 2009

Nonsurgical, quick and accurate test for diagnosing endometriosis discovered

A quick and accurate test for endometriosis that does not require surgery has been developed by researchers from Australia, Jordan and Belgium, according to new research published online today (Wednesday 19 August) in Europe's leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction.

19 Aug 2009

Beveragette Ventures launches all-natural beverage to minimize common PMS and menopause symptoms

Seattle-based, women-owned, Beveragette Ventures LLC, developers of the innovative, wellness beverage line, GEM, announced today the launch of Keep it Cool(TM), an all-natural, low-calorie, peach-pineapple flavored beverage, with clinically proven ingredients to minimize the many symptoms of menopause; hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, irritability and sleeplessness.

19 Aug 2009

Weight training reduces lymphedema symptoms after breast cancer surgery

Breast cancer survivors who lift weights are less likely than their non-weightlifting peers to experience worsening symptoms of lymphedema, the arm- and hand-swelling condition that plagues many women following surgery for their disease, according to new University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine research published in the August 13 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

18 Aug 2009

$Denosumab reduces fractures in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis$

Denosumab reduces fractures in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis

Fractures are a major cause of disability and health care costs among postmenopausal women. Now a study in the New England Journal of Medicine highlights an alternative therapy that prevents fractures in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.

18 Aug 2009

Mandatory folic acid fortification may be unnecessary

Persistently present levels of unmetabolized folic acid found in the population indicate that introducing mandatory food fortification may result in an ‘overdosing’ effect. A study of blood donors, new mothers and babies, published in the open access journal BMC Public Health, has found that most already get enough folic acid from voluntarily fortified foods.

17 Aug 2009

Wine may offer radioprotective effect for breast cancer patients

Drinking wine while undergoing radiation treatment for breast carcinoma may reduce the incidence of skin toxicity in breast cancer patients, according to a study in the August issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, the official journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).

13 Aug 2009

Weight training reduces lymphedema symptoms after breast cancer surgery

12 Aug 2009

Only the best looking men tempt women into casual sex

Men are far more interested in casual sex than women. While men need to be exceptionally attractive to tempt women to consider casual sex, men are far less choosy. These findings by Dr Achim Schützwohl, from the Department of Psychology at Brunel University in the UK, and his team are published online in Springer's journal Human Nature.

11 Aug 2009

UNAIDS report says 50 million women in Asia at risk of HIV infection from intimate partners

A UNAIDS report released Tuesday at the 9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) in Bali, Indonesia, estimates that more than 90 percent of the 1.7 million HIV-positive women living in Asia were infected by husbands or long-term partners who engaged in "high-risk sexual behaviours," Agence France-Presse reports. The UNAIDS report also found "women accounted for 35 percent of all adult HIV infections in Asia in 2008, up from 17 percent in 1990, the AFP writes.

11 Aug 2009

Holography helps tackle ovarian cancer

Two University of Arizona researchers have formed a research team to design, build and evaluate two versions of an ovarian cancer medical imaging and screening instrument that will use holographic components in a new type of optical microscope.

11 Aug 2009

Seizures during pregnancy linked to pre-term, small or low-birth-weight babies

Women with epilepsy who have seizures during pregnancy appear more likely to give birth to pre-term, small or low-birth-weight babies than women without epilepsy, according to a report in the August issue of Archives of Neurology.

10 Aug 2009

Breastfeeding appears to reduce risk of breast cancer among women with family history

Women with a family history of breast cancer appear to have a lower risk of developing the disease before menopause if they have ever breastfed a child, according to a report in the August 10/24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

10 Aug 2009

Vulvodynia, the most frequent cause of painful sex

PAINFUL SEX. It's a secret that millions of women live with in embarrassment and isolation. Until now. . .

10 Aug 2009

New kind of “molecular condom” to protect women from AIDS

University of Utah scientists developed a new kind of “molecular condom” to protect women from AIDS in Africa and other impoverished areas. Before sex, women would insert a vaginal gel that turns semisolid in the presence of semen, trapping AIDS virus particles in a microscopic mesh so they can’t infect vaginal cells.

10 Aug 2009

Female supervisors more likely to be sexually harassed at work

Women who hold supervisory positions are more likely to be sexually harassed at work, according to the first-ever, large-scale longitudinal study to examine workplace power, gender and sexual harassment.

9 Aug 2009

Cooperation between faith-based organizations and UNFPA critical to maternal health, say groups

Partnerships between faith-based organizations and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, are critical to enhancing efforts to reduce maternal deaths and end violence against women.

7 Aug 2009