~ "None of Your Business: Bus Driver Refuses To Bring Women to Planned Parenthood," Micole Allekotte, National Women's Law Center's "Womenstake": Allekotte, a health fellow at NWLC, writes that a Texas bus driver is suing a transportation company that allegedly fired him because he refused to drive women to a Planned Parenthood affiliate. The driver "claims that the employer must accommodate his religious beliefs against abortion by allowing him to refuse to do his job," Allekotte states. She continues, "The driver's prejudice against Planned Parenthood and the women who go there is especially egregious because Planned Parenthood performs many services in addition to abortion, including routine gynecological exams, cancer and [sexually transmitted infection] screenings, family planning counseling, birth control distribution, and men's sexual health screenings." Ultimately, "[i]t is none of a bus driver's business where his passengers are going or why," Allekotte writes, adding, "We should all promote the principle that each person is entitled to make his or her own medical decisions free of imposed impediments from those who disagree" (Allekotte, "Womenstake," National Women's Law Center, 8/6).
~ "Republicans Plan To Exploit Abortion Issue To Defund Health Law," Igor Volsky, Think Progress' "Wonk Room": Conservative critics of the federal health reform law (PL 111-148) "are now focusing on defunding some of the most unpopular provisions" of the legislation through the appropriations process, Volsky writes, adding that a recent American Spectator article by Philip Klein shows that "the idea is picking up some serious traction." According to Volsky, Republicans might attempt to add abortion-related language to the defunding amendments to "peel off the votes of several old members of the so-called Stupak coalition" -- antiabortion-rights Democrats who opposed related provisions of the law until the last minute. Klein wrote that this tactic "would provoke a fight in which pro-choice Democrats would once again have to choose between" the reform law and limiting private coverage of abortion services. Volsky continues, "Depending on how the midterm elections turn out, some of these strategies may, in fact, prove successful," he cautions that if Republicans do attempt this strategy "it's far from certain that they'll succeed." He notes that Gail Wilensky, a CMS administrator under President George H.W. Bush, said recently that "it has been very difficult historically to do this type of a starving unless you have a very large majority behind you" (Volsky, "Wonk Room," Think Progress, 8/9).
~ "Little Women: Early Puberty and What It Means for Girls," Melanie Abrahams, International Women's Health Coalition's "Akimbo": "In recent years, the transition from girlhood to womanhood has seemed to come faster" and placed "the sexual maturity of young girls in the spotlight," Abrahams writes. A new study showing that U.S. girls are reaching puberty at younger ages "complicates the issue," she continues. While "there's been a lot of brouhaha over naming the culprit of early physical maturation of girls," Abrahams argues that "instead of pointing fingers, we need to face the facts and focus on the changing need of girls in our lives and around the world." She writes that the urgency of providing "early, age appropriate and comprehensive sexuality education" is "far greater when a girl is already menstruating and could be at risk for early pregnancy, or is having to negotiate sexual pressures." In addition, "early puberty illuminates the crucial need to fight child marriage on a global scale," she argues, noting that in some countries, puberty is considered the benchmark for when girls are ready for intercourse. "People might not like the idea that little girls are, physically speaking, growing up faster -- but that doesn't mean we can afford to simply stick our heads in the ground or focus only on how to stop early maturation," Abrahams states, concluding, "Puberty is scary and confusing at any age -- and as girls face it earlier and earlier, it's our responsibility to offer them any help we can" (Abrahams, "Akimbo," International Women's Health Coalition, 8/9).
~ "Unmasking Fake Clinics: The California Edition of '12th and Delaware,'" Alexa Cole, RH Reality Check: The premiere of the HBO documentary "12th and Delaware" "gave vivid examples of threats [crisis pregnancy centers] pose to women's freedom and privacy," Cole writes. Although the documentary was filmed in Florida, Cole writes that a NARAL Pro-Choice California Foundation investigation into CPCs "demonstrate[s] that the pro-choice state of California is under attack from the 'fake clinic' arm of the anti-choice movement." According to Cole, 91% of California counties have at least one CPC, while only 59% of counties have an abortion provider. "What's happening in Florida, as seen in '12th and Delaware,' is not only happening here in California but all over the country," she continues. The investigation "highlights that though California has long been considered the top state for respecting women's reproductive privacy, it is not immune to the threats that are being documented around the country" (Cole, RH Reality Check, 8/10).
Reprinted with kind permission from nationalpartnership. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families.
© 2010 National Partnership for Women & Families. All rights reserved.
четверг, 23 февраля 2012 г.
Blogs Comment On Health Reform Repeal Attempts, Crisis Pregnancy Centers, Other Topics
четверг, 16 февраля 2012 г.
Women's Health Policy Report Highlights Studies From Recent Breast Cancer Conference
~ Anthracyclines: New research suggests that anthracyclines -- a class of chemotherapy drugs commonly used to treat breast cancer -- could cause more harm than benefits for breast cancer patients because they can be damaging to the heart, the Wall Street Journal reports. Researchers from the Breast Cancer International Research Group studied the effects of two courses of breast cancer treatment: anthracyclines taken in conjunction with Herceptin -- which is used to treat women who have HER-2-positive cancer -- and Herceptin taken with non-anthracycline drugs. A third control group was treated with just anthracyclines, such as doxorubicin and epirubicin. At the symposium, researchers presented data from the five years of the 10-year study showing that women in both Herceptin groups were more likely to remain alive after five years than women in the control group. There was no significant difference in mortality between the two Herceptin groups, but the study did detect significantly higher levels of heart damage, including congestive heart failure, for women in the Herceptin plus anthracycline group. That group also experienced higher leukemia rates, a secondary consequence of the chemotherapy treatment. According to the Journal, the results "renewed a debate over whether ... anthracyclines, which have been around since the 1960s, should remain the standard of care in treating breast cancer, or whether newer drugs should be used more frequently" (Wang, Wall Street Journal, 12/14).
~ Bone drugs: Women who take oral bisphosphonates to prevent bone loss developed about one-third fewer breast cancers than other women, according to two new observational studies, the New York Times reports. The research comes from a retrospective analysis of data from the Women's Health Initiative and a separate Israeli observational study of several thousand postmenopausal women. The WHI, a federal study, included 151,592 postmenopausal women who were followed for an average of 7.8 years, with 2,216 of the women taking oral bisphosphonates at the start of the study. There were 3.29 cancers per 1,000 women taking the bone-loss drugs over the course of one year, compared with 4.38 cancers per 1,000 women not taking the medications. The analysis found that there were 32% fewer new breast cancers among users of the bone-loss drugs after researchers adjusted for various risk factors among women from both groups, according to the Times. The Israeli study included 4,575 postmenopausal women and found that women who used the drugs for more than one year had a 29% relative reduction in risk for breast cancer. The study also found that breast cancer tumors developing among the bone-loss drug users were more likely to be estrogen receptor-positive, the Times reports (Rabin, New York Times, 12/11). Although the results "provide the best evidence to date" of the drugs' efficacy at reducing breast cancer risk, it is still too early for women to use the drugs for the purpose of preventing cancer, according to Gad Rennert, the lead investigator of the Israeli study and director of the National Israeli Cancer Control Center (Wang, Wall Street Journal, 12/11).
~ Tykerb: In a second trial involving Herceptin, researchers found that women who were treated with a combination of Herceptin and a second treatment, Tykerb, lived nearly five months longer than women treated with Tykerb alone, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The study targeted women with very advanced breast cancer for whom other treatments are no longer effective. Doctors said they hope benefits of the combined treatments will be more pronounced for women with less-advanced breast cancer. Herceptin and Tykerb are both designed to treat HER-2-positive breast cancer, albeit in different ways (Marchione, AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/11). The findings could help lessen doctors' reliance on chemotherapy in favor of more targeted treatments, according to lead researcher Kimberly Blackwell of Duke University (Wang, "Health Blog," Wall Street Journal, 12/11).
Reprinted with kind permission from nationalpartnership. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.
© 2009 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.
View drug information on Herceptin; Tykerb.
четверг, 9 февраля 2012 г.
Vaginal Bacteria Vary Among Healthy Women
"Women suffer from insidious health problems, including bacterial vaginosis and yeast infections, and those problems send them in droves to seek medical treatment," said Larry Forney, a professor of biology at the University of Idaho. "Unfortunately, prescribed treatments aren't necessarily effective because doctors don't understand distinctive differences in the microbial composition of the vagina among women."
Forney's interdisciplinary team of researchers found that the microbial ecosystem of the human vagina varies greatly among women. Those differences can lead to conditions that, if not diagnosed and treated correctly, may leave some women susceptible to a range of infections, including sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV.
His research team compared the type of vaginal bacteria in a representative group of Caucasian and black women in North America. Three major findings emerged from the study: there are at least eight kinds of normal vaginal bacterial communities, each community is different, and, among the eight kinds of communities, some bacterial communities are unique to one or the other racial group.
"Understanding the differences between these normal vaginal communities is the key to developing effective treatment and keeping women healthy," Forney said. "For example, with this new insight into the vaginal ecosystem, we will be able to better understand a woman's risk to disease and individual health care needs, and assist doctors and women to make more informed decisions about health issues and treatment plans."
"It's important for us to understand that the bacterial landscape in vaginas is different in different women and that's normal," Forney said. "Every speck of the human body has bacteria and those bacteria, including bacteria in the vagina, play a role in maintaining the body's health."
A healthy vagina is populated with lactic acid-producing bacteria, explained Forney. The environment maintains a low pH balance that inhibits the growth of pathogens. "The vagina is elegant in its simplicity," he said. "A healthy vagina maintains itself and is able to self-correct when minor imbalances occur."
When conditions in the vagina change the pH balance dramatically, harmful bacteria can invade and cause infections. When the pH is imbalanced, a condition known as bacterial vaginosis can develop; the condition is not well understood and is marked by several indicators including elevated pH levels and vaginal discharge. If left untreated or if treatment fails, the condition can predispose a woman to harm from sexually transmitted disease, including HIV.
Forney stressed the importance of the research team's findings because they may:
-- shed light on why some women have recurrent vaginal yeast infections, while others have never had one;
-- partly explain differences in susceptibility to infection in the two racial groups, based upon the relative frequency of different kinds of bacterial communities in women.
Forney also said differences in the kinds of bacteria normally present in the vagina might mean that vaginal odor is normal for some women and not an indication of an underlying health problem.
The research has personal meaning for Forney as well. "I am vitally concerned about women's health issues because I've got two daughters and I know that these issues will affect them."
Forney's team includes Xia Zhou, Celeste Brown and James Foster, from the department of biological sciences, University of Idaho; and Zaid Abdo and Paul Joyce, from the departments of mathematics and statistics department, University of Idaho.
About the University of Idaho
Founded in 1889, the University of Idaho is the state's flagship higher-education institution and its principal graduate education and research university, bringing insight and innovation to the state, the nation and the world. University researchers attract nearly $100 million in research grants and contracts each year; the University of Idaho is the only institution in the state to earn the prestigious Carnegie Foundation ranking for high research activity. The university's student population includes first-generation college students and ethnically diverse scholars. Its high academic performers include 42 National Merit Scholars and a 2006-07 freshman class with an average high school grade point average of 3.42. Offering more than 150 degree options in 10 colleges, the university combines the strengths of a large university with the intimacy of small learning communities. For information, visit uidaho.edu.
University of Idaho
PO Box 443221
Moscow, ID 83843
United States
uidaho.edu
четверг, 2 февраля 2012 г.
Link Discovered Between Trans Fats, Increased Endometriosis Risk And Omega-3-Rich Food
The study - which is the largest to have investigated the link between diet and endometriosis risk and the first prospective study to identify a modifiable risk factor for the condition - found that while the total amount of fat in the diet did not matter, the type of fat did. Women who ate the highest amount of long-chain Omega-3 fatty acids were 22% less likely to be diagnosed with endometriosis than those who ate the least and that those who ate the most trans fats had a 48% increased risk, compared with those who ate the least.
The findings from 70,709 American nurses followed for 12 years, published online in Europe's leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction [1], not only suggest that diet may be important in the development of endometriosis, but they also provide more evidence that a low fat diet is not necessarily the healthiest and further bolster the case for eliminating trans fats from the food supply, said the study's leader, Dr. Stacey Missmer, an assistant professor of obstetrics, gynaecology and reproductive biology at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
"Millions of women worldwide suffer from endometriosis. Many women have been searching for something they can actually do for themselves, or their daughters, to reduce the risk of developing the disease, and these findings suggest that dietary changes may be something they can do. The results need to be confirmed by further research, but this study gives us a strong indication that we're on the right track in identifying food rich in Omega-3 oils as protective for endometriosis and trans fats as detrimental," Dr. Missmer added.
Endometriosis occurs when pieces of the womb lining, or endometrium, is found outside the womb. This tissue behaves in the same way as it does in the womb - growing during the menstrual cycle in response to oestrogen in anticipation of an egg being fertilized and shedding as blood when there's no pregnancy. However, when it grows outside the womb, it is trapped and cannot leave the body as menstruation. Some women experience no symptoms, but for many it is very incapacitating, causing severe pain. The tissue can also stick to other organs, sometimes leading to infertility. It afflicts about 10% of women. The cause is poorly understood and there is no cure. Symptoms are traditionally treated with pain medication, hormone drugs or surgery.
In the study, the researchers collected information from 1989 to 2001 on 70,709 women enrolled in the U.S. Nurses Health Study cohort. They used three food-frequency questionnaires spaced at four-year intervals to record the women's usual dietary habits over the preceding year. They categorized consumption of the various types of dietary fat into five levels and related that information to later confirmed diagnoses of endometriosis. A total of 1,199 women were diagnosed with the disease by the end of the study. The results were adjusted to eliminate any influence on the findings from factors such as total calorie intake, body mass index, number of children borne and race.
Long-chain Omega-3 fatty acids are found mostly in oily fish. They have been linked to reduced heart disease risk. In the study, the highest contributor was mayonnaise and full-fat salad dressing, followed by fatty fish such as tuna, salmon and mackerel.
Trans fats are artificially produced through hydrogenation, which turns liquid vegetable oil into solid fat. Used in thousands of processed foods, from snacks to ready-meals, they have already been linked to increased heart disease risk. Some countries and municipalities have banned them. The major sources of trans fats in this study were fried restaurant foods, margarine and crackers.
"Women tend to go to the Internet in particular to look for something they can do. The majority of the dietary recommendations they find there are the ones prescribed for heart health, but until now, those had not been evaluated specifically for endometriosis," Dr. Missmer said. "This gives them information that is more tailored and provides evidence for another disease where it is the type of fat in the diet, rather than the total amount, that is important."
Besides confirming the finding, a next step could be to investigate whether dietary intervention that reduces trans fats and increases Omega-3 oils can alleviate symptoms in women who already have endometriosis, Dr. Missmer added.
Notes:
The U.S. National Institutes of Health funded the study.
[1] A prospective study of dietary fat consumption and endometriosis risk. Human Reproduction journal. doi:10.1093/humrep/deq044
Source:
Emma Ross
European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology