Women's Health News

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Postnatal psychosis more common in older first-time mothers

Women who give birth for the first time after the age of 35 run a greater risk than younger first-time mothers of suffering a psychosis in the months after delivery.

10 Feb 2009

Obesity during pregnancy associated with increased risk of birth defects

For women who are obese during pregnancy there is an associated increased risk of certain birth defects, such as spina bifida and neural tube defects, although the absolute increase in risk is likely to be small, according to an analysis of previous studies, reported in the February 11 issue of JAMA.

10 Feb 2009

Home pregnancy tests can lead to better prenatal care

The simple intervention of providing women who are having unprotected sex with a home pregnancy test could have a substantial impact on the health of potential newborns, according to a Michigan State University study.

10 Feb 2009

First-time mothers at a greater risk of psychosis in the month following childbirth

A study of risk factors associated with psychotic illness after childbirth, published this week in the open-access journal PLoS Medicine, shows that first-time mothers are at the greatest risk of developing psychosis in the month following the birth of their child - even if they have never been treated in hospital for mental illness in the past.

10 Feb 2009

Older first time mothers more prone to develop mental illness

Swedish researchers have revealed that women who have their first baby after age 35 are more likely to develop a mental illness after the birth.

10 Feb 2009

Experts say multivitamins have no impact on older women's risk of cancer or heart disease

A study by scientists in the United States has found that the long-term use of multivitamins have no impact on a postmenopausal woman's risk of cancer or heart disease.

10 Feb 2009

Drinking lots of soda raises risk for early kidney disease in women

Women who drink two or more cans of soda pop per day are nearly twice as likely to show early signs of kidney disease, a recent study has found.

9 Feb 2009

Pregnancy has no impact on breast cancer, but can delay diagnosis and treatment

A new study finds women who develop breast cancer while pregnant or soon afterwards do not experience any differences in disease severity or likelihood of survival compared to other women with breast cancer.

9 Feb 2009

Multivitamin use not linked to women's risk of cancer, heart disease or death

Postmenopausal women who take multivitamins appear to have the same risk of most common cancers, cardiovascular disease or dying of any cause as women who do not take multivitamin supplements, according to a report in the February 9 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

9 Feb 2009

Black women with uterine cancers more likely to die than white patients

Black women with cancers of the uterus are less likely to survive the disease than white women, and relatively little progress has been made over the past two decades to narrow this racial difference.

9 Feb 2009

Anti-HIV vaginal gel shows promise

An investigational vaginal gel intended to prevent HIV infection in women has demonstrated encouraging signs of success in a clinical trial conducted in Africa and the United States.

9 Feb 2009

Household instability, area poverty and obesity in urban mothers and their children

Putting food on the table, struggling with unemployment and meeting the relentless needs of young children all contribute to household stress.

8 Feb 2009

Too many women still die from unsafe abortions

According to a prominent Australian researcher unsafe abortions continue to be a leading cause of death for pregnant women worldwide and too many women still die from unsafe abortions.

8 Feb 2009

Even moderate exercise helps breast cancer recovery

Australian researchers have found that exercise can offer benefits to women recovering from breast cancer treatment.

8 Feb 2009

Guidance for evaluating menopause-like condition in girls and young women

A comprehensive plan to help health care professionals diagnose and treat primary ovarian insufficiency-a menopause-like condition affecting girls and young women that may occur years before normal menopause is expected-has been developed by a scientist at the National Institutes of Health.

5 Feb 2009

Breast cancer risk rapidly declines after women stop taking postmenopausal combined hormone therapy

Women who stopped taking the postmenopausal hormone combination of estrogen plus progestin experienced a marked decline in breast cancer risk which was unrelated to mammography utilization change, according to a study from the Women's Health Initiative led by a Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed) investigator that was published today in The New England Journal of Medicine.

5 Feb 2009

Vitamin D related to muscle power, force, velocity and jump height in adolescent girls

Vitamin D is significantly associated with muscle power and force in adolescent girls, according to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism ( JCEM ).

3 Feb 2009

New test predicts how breast cancer patients respond to chemotherapy

Researchers at the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics and the Swiss National Center of Competence in Research in Molecular Oncology in Lausanne have developed a new test to predict how breast cancer patients respond to chemotherapy, which could help change how treatment is delivered in the future.

3 Feb 2009

Resting pulse predicts heart attacks in women

A simple measurement of resting pulse predicts coronary events in women independently of physical activity and common risk factors, such as smoking and alcohol consumption, finds a study published on bmj.com.

3 Feb 2009

Nothing silent about the way ovarian cancer kills

A new study by Australian scientists has revealed that far from being a silent killer, most women diagnosed with ovarian cancer had one or two unusual and persistent symptoms before they were diagnosed.

3 Feb 2009