Posts for 'Women Health Issues' Category

The health  of the people is an index of the prosperity and well being of a country. It is of paramount importance as a national assert and basis to sustain as well as to stimulate optimum levels of efficiency. Now-a-days it is widely recognized that human capital place a dominant role in the context of economic development and health is an important component of human capital. The issue of health is of greater importance both from the point of view of individuals and the nation.

It is through enhancement of health status, that a country like India can accelerate the pace of economic development and minimize wastage of human resources in terms of mortality and morbidity. In fact, health status exercises profound influence on human resource development and effective utilization of human resources. There is, broadly a correspondence between the level of economic development attained by a country and the health of its population. Improvement in the health of human resources leads to increase the productivity and also helps them to enjoy output of these efforts fully.

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Rural women's health is an infinitely broad topic. Many Indian women have come from circumstances in which women have limited access to healthcare. Traditionally, there has been discrimination towards women in decision-making; access to resources such as food, education and health care; job opportunities; and in child-rearing and parenting. However, women's health in rural areas affects everything in their environment from their families to their economies and vice versa. A woman's health, especially among the poor and illiterate, is often neglected not just by her family but by the woman herself. She is taught not to complain and if she does then she is directed either to use condiments in the kitchen or try faith healing.

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A recent study has suggested a review of the WHO study whereby women have been advised that if they have experienced a miscarriage they should wait for at least six months before trying to conceive.

It has also rejected the guideline that women who have a miscarriage have a higher chance of having a second miscarriage in addition to complications in a subsequent pregnancy.

The new study in fact tries to establish that women who get pregnant within six months of a miscarriage have the best chance of having healthy pregnancies with the least number of complications. According to the study doctors, the duration for which couples should wait before trying to conceive again is not fixed; with some saying the wait at all is unnecessary.

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I am a firm believer in the good old reward system.  There are times in life where it seems next to impossible to complete any sort of work out routine or get to that place that you so desperately want.  I think a key is to have a reward that you can’t say no to.  I also think the best rewards have some sort of monetary cost attached.  Whether you need a spa day, a vacation or a shopping spree you are probably going to need to have some money involved.

A way to save that money is by eliminating that stuff that you want out of your life anyway.  Start skipping those mochas, sodas and fast food and if you figure out how much you normally spend on those items you can set it aside for some new clothing when you are all done. You have to have days that you can look forward to a splurge.  When I am trying to go without my coffees I pick a day that I can meet with a friend and have a coffee.  We have a local coffee shop with a mom’s “happy hour” for half price coffees on Thursdays.  They have toys for the kids and I know that my friends and I go to have a coffee.  That is my coffee treat day.  Maybe take Sundays and have a soda or some chips.  Knowing that you have these days to have something yummy won’t make you think you are suffering so much.

The truth is a treat here and there isn’t going to be what kills you in the end, but you have to have those to look forward to or you may just give into your cravings to often.  Working out also allows you a little more room to treat yourself knowing that you are burning more calories with all the muscle you are building.

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Lung cancer has been the leading cause of cancer death among women since 1987, claiming the lives of 70,490 women in 2009. But it's still called the "hidden women's cancer," because other cancers that are common among women  breast cancer in particular  are so well known and well funded.

So, it's probably high time that someone put out a comprehensive overview of the disease's specific toll on women. And on Monday, that's just what the Brigham & Women's Hospital and the Lung Cancer Alliance did. The result is "Out of the Shadows: Women and Lung Cancer," an authoritative roundup of research on how many and which women get lung cancer, who survives, what treatments are in the works and how those treatments are likely to affect female lung cancer patients differently from men.

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How many working women think they're paid fairly for the work they do? Right now, with the economy still struggling to provide jobs for all those who want them, many women are probably happy just to be employed. But women are still paid only 77 cents for every $1 men receive. This unequal pay continues to harm American women and the families who depend on their wages. (According to a recent report, women are the primary breadwinners in 40 percent of American households.)

April 20 marked how far into 2010 women had to work, in addition to the work they did in 2009, to earn what men earned during 2009 alone. Yet languishing in the Senate is the Paycheck Fairness Act, House-passed legislation that would level the playing field for working women.

The act would amend the 1963 Equal Pay Act, which made it illegal for employers to pay unequal wages to those who perform substantially equal work. Although the Equal Pay Act has narrowed the wage gap, a disparity still exists.

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The cancer specialists who have been comparing the drugs raloxifene and tamoxifen rushed out updated findings to a meeting on Monday, showing that tamoxifen lowers the risk of breast cancer in high-risk women by 50 per cent, compared with 38 per cent for raloxifene. Overall, both drugs saved lives, they told the American Association for Cancer Research meeting.

"I think we need to reassess why we are not using these drugs more broadly and why we are not prepared to reduce the risk of breast cancer by more than 50 per cent in women who are high risk," said Dr. Gabriel Hortobagyi of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

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Even the most seemingly well-adjusted women still have issues with their body image, a new study suggests. The results show women who have a normal perception of body image based on psychological screening tests still have brain scans that reveal they are concerned about getting fat.

"Even though they claim they don't care about body issues...their brains are showing that it really bugs them to think about the prospect of being overweight," said study researcher Mark Allen, a neuroscientist at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

The pattern of brain activity is similar, though not as strong, as that seen in women with eating disorders such as anorexia, the researchers say. On the other hand, brain scans of men included didn't show any indication that they were concerned about body image.

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Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a hormonal disorder affecting about 10% of women of reproductive age and is a leading cause of infertility. A preliminary study - conducted by researchers with the University of Adelaide's Robinson Institute and the Cardiology Department of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital - has exposed other major health risks and some common misconceptions about PCOS.

The pilot study, involving a small sample of women, showed that: Young women (average age of 31 years) with PCOS had significant abnormalities in blood clotting and blood vessel function, which are important risk factors inheart disease; This risk was not limited to overweight or obese women with PCOS - it affected women of all body shapes and sizes, including lean women.

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 Women who survive breast cancer and have children afterward don’t appear to be at any higher risk of dying from cancer, a new study says. Doctors have long worried pregnancy might spark hormonal changes in breast cancer survivors that could spur the disease’s return, and many breast cancer patients are counseled against getting pregnant after they recover.

In research presented today at a European breast cancer conference in Barcelona, experts said pregnancy in women who have been treated for breast cancer is safe and does not seem to be linked with the disease’s recurrence.

Among women in the general population, those who have early and multiple pregnancies have a lower risk of getting breast cancer than women who don’t. Dr. Hatem Azim of the Institute Jules Bordet in Belgium and colleagues analyzed results from 14 previous trials that followed more than 1,400 pregnant women with a history of breast cancer.

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