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Calcium and vitamin D is more effective than calcium alone in preventing bone loss in elderly women

Previous studies have shown that high calcium intake can help prevent bone loss. This latest study, however, demonstrated that calcium therapy, although initially successful at preventing bone loss, was no different from placebo after three or five years.

18 Jan 2008

Male and female doctors have divergent views on women and depression

Women and men doctors have some divergent views about women and depression, according to a recent survey conducted by the Society for Women's Health Research, a Washington, D.C., based advocacy organization.

17 Jan 2008

New clues about BRCA1 role in breast cancer

A breast cancer gene's newly discovered role in repairing damaged DNA may help explain why women who inherit a mutated copy of the gene are at increased risk for developing both breast and ovarian cancer.

17 Jan 2008

Black women get breast cancer two decades earlier than white women

Black British women in Hackney, East London, are diagnosed with breast cancer 21 years younger than white British women, according to a Cancer Research UK study published online in the British Journal of Cancer.

17 Jan 2008

Bisexual women - new research findings

Bisexuality in women appears to be a distinctive sexual orientation and not an experimental or transitional stage that some women adopt "on their way" to lesbianism, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.

17 Jan 2008

Shift work may increase the risk of enforced early retirement among women

The findings are based on just under 8000 male and female employees, who were part of a large health and work study (Danish Work Environment Cohort Study), which began in 1990, and data from the national welfare register.

16 Jan 2008

Vitamin D2 supplements may help prevent falls among high-risk older women

Vitamin D2 supplements appear to reduce the risk of falls among women with a history of falling and low blood vitamin D levels living in sunny climates, especially during the winter, according to a report in the January 14 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

16 Jan 2008

Calcium supplements may increase the risk of heart attacks for older women

Scientists in New Zealand say healthy post-menopausal women who take calcium supplements to maintain bone strength may be increasing their risk of heart attacks.

16 Jan 2008

African-American women's magazines more likely to encourage fad diets

Magazines catering to African-Americans may be falling short in their efforts to educate readers about weight loss, a new University of Iowa study suggests.

16 Jan 2008

New research advancements in the treatment of premature ovarian failure

Scientific Director of the Meharry Center for Women's Health Research and a team of researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch and the University of Saskatchewan have recently discovered that the gene mutation believed to be a possible cause of premature ovarian failure may be corrected when an adenovirus compensating for the mutated gene is introduced. Findings were reported in the recent issue of Molecular Human Reproduction.

15 Jan 2008

The link between combined HRT use and the risk of lobular breast cancers

Postmenopausal women who take combined estrogen/progestin hormone-replacement therapy for three years or more face a fourfold increased risk of developing various forms of lobular breast cancer, according to new findings by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

15 Jan 2008

Diets high in lutein, zeaxanthin and vitamin E lower risk for cataracts

Women who have higher dietary intake of lutein and zeaxanthin—compounds found in yellow or dark, leafy vegetables—as well as more vitamin E from food and supplements appear to have a lower risk for developing cataracts, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

15 Jan 2008

New folic acid seal helps women choose enriched grain foods to help prevent birth defects

Not enough American women understand that consuming the B vitamin folic acid every day can help prevent serious birth defects, and only 40 percent are taking daily multivitamin supplements containing this essential nutrient beginning before pregnancy, two recent surveys show.

14 Jan 2008

Cranberries combat urinary tract infections

Cranberry juice, long dissed as a mere folk remedy for relieving urinary tract infections in women, is finally getting some respect.

11 Jan 2008

Women wait longer to pursue knee-replacement surgery than men do

Is getting new knees on your list of New Year's resolutions? Research at the University of Delaware indicates that women wait longer to pursue knee-replacement surgery than men do.

10 Jan 2008

Soybeans for hot flashes

Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have found that a compound in soybeans is effective in reducing the frequency and severity of hot flashes in menopausal women.

10 Jan 2008

Breast cancer screening cuts mortality by half

Breast cancer screening in East Anglia has reduced deaths from the disease by nearly half, according to a study published in the British Journal of Cancer 1 today.

9 Jan 2008

BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations and breast cancer

Breast cancer risk varies widely among women who are carriers of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, according to a new study published in the January 9, 2008, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

9 Jan 2008

Brain response differences found in way women with irritable bowel syndrome deal with pain

UCLA researchers found that women with IBS cannot effectively turn-off a pain modulation mechanism in the brain, which causes them to be more sensitive to abdominal pain, compared to women without IBS.

9 Jan 2008

American women prefer overly aggressive treatments for breast cancer

Despite a 1990 consensus recommendation from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that lumpectomy plus radiation was the treatment of choice for early stage breast cancer, the United States continues to have the highest rate of mastectomy surgery among industrialized countries.

9 Jan 2008