A few health news articles

Things that make you go hmmm;

Studies Show Gardasil Could Help Older Women, Gay Men, Merck Says

Merck & Co. said two recent studies of its cervical-cancer vaccine Gardasil showed it could help older women and gay men.

In one study, Gardasil was 89% effective in preventing human papillomavirus, a virus that causes cervical cancer and other diseases, in women ages 24 through 45.

In the other study, the drug was 78% effective against anal intraepithelial neoplasia, a precursor to anal cancer, associated with HPV in men ages 16 to 26 who have sex with men.

The data were presented at the European Research Organization on Genital Infection and Neoplasia conference in Monte Carlo, Monaco.

"We are excited to learn more about the potential of Gardasil to help prevent HPV and HPV-related cancers and diseases in both men and women," said Richard Haupt, executive director of Merck Research Laboratories.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703444804575071101641923066.html?mod=dist_smartbrief

And one I personally find horrific; I also dislike the 'lifestyle' implication; especially without mentioning the stress of overt, covert and institutionalized racism.

Breast Cancer Stats Differ Racially Despite Similar Mammogram Rates
FRIDAY, Feb. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Black women are 30 percent to 90 percent more likely to be diagnosed with advanced breast cancer than white women, researchers report.

A new study, based on an analysis of 1992-2004 cancer statistics, also finds that a racial disparity in cases of advanced colorectal cancer widened between blacks and whites of both genders.

The findings were published recently in the journal Hormones and Cancer.

"While we could not determine the exact contributors to the trends we saw in this study, it is interesting to note that for breast cancer, mammographic screening rates were quite similar among African-American and white women in the United States during the time period we studied. This suggests that factors other than screening may be contributing to this persistent disparity, including differences in both lifestyle and genetics," senior study author Dr. Christopher I. Li, an associate member of the Public Health Sciences Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, said in a news release from the center.
http://www.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=635829

And while we're on the general topic of mammograms;

Doctor-Patient Divide on Mammograms
Confusion reigned late last year after the United States Preventive Services Task Force changed its recommendations on mammography, suggesting that most women start routine scans at age 50 rather than 40 and reduce the frequency to every two years, from once a year.

Mammography Some women were relieved; others were angry and worried that insurers would cut back on coverage for screening.

Now, an editorial in this week’s issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, the medical journal that first published the new guidelines last November, suggests that a divide has emerged between doctors and patients — with the doctors more inclined to accept the new recommendations and the patients wanting to stick to early and annual screening."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/health/16mamm-.html?ref=science


Women's Heart Disease Awareness Still Lacking
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Despite public awareness campaigns, almost half of all American women still don't know that heart disease is the leading cause of death in women, new research finds.

Even more concerning, only slightly more than half of women would call for emergency help if they were having heart attack symptoms, according to the latest survey for the American Heart Association's Go Red For Women public awareness campaign.

http://www.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=635858


Acupuncture may relieve menstrual cramps
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Acupuncture may be helpful in alleviating menstrual cramps, which affect up to half of all young women, an extensive review of past studies has found.

In a review of 27 studies that involved nearly 3,000 women, researchers from the Oriental Hospital at Kyung Hee University Medical Center in South Korea found that acupuncture may be more effective than drugs or herbal medicines.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61H0TD20100218


I get ANA updates everyday, I thought I go through and share a few of them.

for lots of things, but I get daily energy touch up work and it's never done a damn thing for my menstrual pain. Just thought I'd share.

But I know people who've successfully used acupuncture for other types of pain.
There are nurses who get certified in therapeutic touch that are very successful as well, it's actually something I'd like to explore careerwise.

I know very little about Reiki, but I had a practitioner kind of casually take away a headache one time. Since my husband is ill with MS, I've been looking at some alternate medicine to relieve some of his daily symptoms. It's either that, or more toxic medication-- With accompanying side effects.

Something he has, that just pisses me off, is constant tinnitus. Of all things to be tormented with.

North American Menopause Society Issues Guidelines on Hormone Therapy

February 18, 2010 — The benefit-risk ratio for menopausal hormone therapy (HT) is favorable for women beginning HT close to menopause but decreases in older women and with time since menopause in previously untreated women, according to the latest evidence-based position statement of the North American Menopause Society (NAMS), posted online February 16 and will be published in the March/April issue of Menopause.

"From a clinical perspective, the latest NAMS position statement on HT considers the current best practice of medicine," NAMS Executive Director Margery L. S. Gass, MD, NCMP, said in a news release. "The Panel of world famous authorities clarified a broad spectrum of topics related to HT benefits and risks for postmenopausal women."


The goal of the latest guidelines was to update clinicians as well as the lay public regarding NAMS' recommendations for menopausal HT for postmenopausal women, considering the therapeutic benefit-risk ratio at various times through and beyond menopause.

An advisory panel of 17 clinicians and researchers with special expertise in HT reviewed each section of the previous position statement, published by NAMS in July 2008, in light of new studies and findings, and reached consensus on recommendations. The NAMS board of trustees then approved the updated official position statement, which highlights recent evidence regarding risks for breast cancer, cognitive dysfunction and decline, dementia, coronary heart disease (CHD), and stroke, as well as new recommendations regarding discontinuing HT.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/717238

Estrogen hormone therapy linked to asthma in study
LONDON (Reuters) - Estrogen-only hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may increase the risk of developing asthma after the menopause, scientists said on Monday.

The findings, from a major study involving almost 58,000 women in France over 12 years, add to a growing body of evidence suggesting a link between some female hormones and asthma.

French and Mexican researchers found that compared with women who had never used any form of HRT, those who did use it were 21 percent more likely to develop asthma, but the risk of asthma was most significant in those using estrogen alone.

Among these women, the overall risk of asthma was 54 percent higher than for women who had never used any form of HRT, the scientists from the Gustave Roussy Institute in France and the Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica in Mexico wrote in a study in the British Medical Journal's Thorax publication.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61701420100208

Strange, no? I'm not sure where the connection would be, I'll try to look around

...especially after all the other things we've learned are now linked to widespread prescribed meds for women. for example, the premarin and cancer link. as women started to educate themselves on the issue, and stopped accepting premarin, cancer occurences decreased. um....duh! lol.

i'll have to return and link the appropriate article about this at another time. the search function is rather wonky for me at the moment.