Archive for June, 2006
Asthma can be a deadly condition. One in three fatal asthma attacks worldwide involves a child with a mild form of asthma. Many parents are uninformed about the risk this disease can pose.
A chronic lung disease, asthma is caused by inflammation of the breathing passages. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath. In young children, mucus can seriously obstruct the windpipe and is often coughed up. Some asthma is exercise-related, but allergies cause more than 50% of asthma in adults.
More than 300 million people are plagued with asthma around the world. Its incidence has increased 50% every decade. The World Health Organization reported that 255,000 people died of asthma in 2005. Asthma-related deaths are expected to rise by almost 20% by 2016. The most important factors involved in asthma are air pollution, allergens and tobacco smoke. Persons with asthma are encouraged to give up smoking cigarettes.
Asthma patients should keep close watch on their symptoms and take regular medications to control attacks. If breathing becomes seriously obstructed, the patient needs to be treated in Emergency. Don’t underestimate the risks involved with this chronic disease.
Source: Oakland Tribune, June 15, 2006; from Associated Press story by William J. Kole
Technorati Tags: Asthma
June 30th, 2006
A three-year study of 82 women volunteers, initially virgins, at the University of Washington showed that after becoming sexually active, they reduced their chances of contracting human papilloma virus (HPV) by 70% when partners always used a condom.
Women in the study kept journals of their sexual practices and were checked for HPV every four months with swabs of the cervix and other genital areas. They noted whether there was any genital contact before using the condom.
HPV can cause cervical cancer, genital warts, vaginal, vulvar, anal and penile cancers. It is the most common sexually transmitted disease (STD), infecting about 80% of young women within five years after becoming sexually active. HPV is frequently killed by the immune system, but in some women, the virus causes lesions that can become cancerous.
Worldwide, about 500,000 develop cervical cancer and nearly 300,000 die of it annually. In the U.S., some 3,500 women die of it each year.
Known to prevent AIDS and pregnancy, condoms are recently found to give significant protection against HPV, as well. Their use can also provide protection against gonorrhea, Chlamydia and herpes in men and women.
In early June, the U.S. government approved the first vaccine against HPV. If given to young women before they become sexually active, it could prevent them from ever contracting the virus.
Sources: CNN.com, San Francisco Chronicle; 6/22/06
Technorati Tags: Sexual Health, HPV, Condoms
June 28th, 2006
Even in the first trimester of pregnancy, a class of blood pressure medications called ACE inhibitors may not be safe for the developing fetus. In a new study of nearly 30,000 pregnant women, 7% of babies born developed severe birth defects when their mother took an ACE inhibitor drug early in pregnancy.
A black box warning already alerts women not to take them during the second and third trimesters. The risk of developing birth defects was shown to be three times as high in women taking part in this study.
Defects found in babies of women taking ACE inhibitors in early pregnancy involved the heart (33%), limbs or face (25%), kidneys (no numbers given), brain or spinal cord (10%). Many of these problems are curable with surgery, while others can cause permanent disability or retardation.
ACE inhibitors are the second most commonly prescribed type of medications in the U.S., with 149 million prescriptions written last year. Hypertensive women attempting to become pregnant should ask their doctors for a different type of blood pressure medication.
Among those who took another anti-hypertensive drug, only 1.7% had babies with defects. Women in the group taking no blood pressure medicine had birth defects in 2.6% of babies.
More information is needed about the safety of ACE inhibitors during early pregnancy. In the meantime, women trying to conceive would be advised to stay away from this category of drugs to control high blood pressure. If possible, they should attempt to achieve healthy levels of blood pressure before getting pregnant.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle, June 8, 2006 (from an article by David Brown appearing in the Washington Post)
June 19th, 2006
The FDA recently approved the birth control pill Seasonique, which allows women to cut their menstrual periods from one a month to only four periods a year. This advance in medicine will give women even more freedom and variety of choices in preventing unwanted pregnancies.
Seasonique is the latest version of SEASONALE, both designed to give women four periods a year instead of 12. Seasonique provides a low dose of estrogen during a menstrual period, resulting in less breakthrough bleeding than the earlier version approved in 2003. With Seasonale, women took only “dummy” pills during their period. Both are prescription, oral contraceptives. If used as directed, either drug is thought to be 99% effective in preventing pregnancy.
Serious or minor side effects have been reported in using hormonal contraceptives in some women. Among serious risks are blood clots, stroke, and heart attack. In women over age 35 who smoke cigarettes, the risks of cardiovascular side effects are increased.
Barr Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of both extended-cycle prescription contraceptives, emphasizes that their oral products do not protect against HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases. Condoms are your best protection when having intercourse with a partner whose sexual history poses a risk.
Seasonique was tested in a study of 2,500 U.S. women between the ages of 18 and 40 who took the drug for 12 months. Side effects were similar to drug trials of other oral contraceptives, Barr Pharmaceuticals reported. The new birth control pill will be on the market in July 2006.
Source: WebMD.com
June 9th, 2006
As leading music therapists have known for years, music was found to relieve chronic pain in adults taking part recently in a one-week study. Sixty adults in their late 40s or early 50s who lived in Ohio were recruited from pain clinics and a chiropractic office.
The majority of study participants reported feeling chronic pain in multiple areas, including lower back, legs, knee joints and feet. Half had never gotten a pain-related diagnosis, but osteoarthritis was the most common reason for symptoms of those who knew the source of their pain. All had pain for at least six months, and some suffered from pain for years.
Researchers split the adults into three groups, with one group selecting their own music or relaxing sounds of nature. The second group listened to instrumental music supplied by the researchers. In the third group (control group), patients did not listen to music. Both music groups were given tape players and headsets to use while relaxing for one hour during each day.
Results were startling when patients rated their pain, depression, disability and feelings of empowerment. Comparing each category before and after the study, average scores improved for both music groups, but not for the comparison group.
• Average pain ratings fell 20%
• Average scores on depression fell up to 25%
• Self-rated disability ratings dropped up to 18%
• Feelings of ability to change their lives rose by up to 8%
Researchers discovered that a variety of different musical selections and styles were effective for both groups listening to music. The conclusion reached was that music can help patients deal with chronic, nonmalignant pain. The rest that patients got while listening to music could have added to the beneficial result.
Source: WebMD
June 6th, 2006
In the U.S. and some other countries, two embryos are generally used for in vitro fertilization (IVF) for women between ages 35 and 39. However, researchers in Finland are finding that infertile women in this age bracket have success with assisted reproduction when a single, high quality embryo is implanted.
When a high quality embryo is available, a single transfer can reduce the chance of having twins, which can be more risky than the birth of one baby. In the recent Finnish study, a third of the women were successful on the first try in conceiving and delivering a baby using only one frozen embryo. With more than one attempt, 40% of older women were successful in delivering a baby.
According to a reproduction specialist in the U.S., the quality of the embryo is more important than a woman’s age when deciding to use a single or double embryo transfer. Because IVF is so expensive (from $10,000 to $15,000), many American women try other infertility treatments first.
In Finland and other Scandinavian countries, the patient does not pay for assisted reproduction. For that reason, IVF is used five times as often in women having difficulty conceiving in Finland than in the U.S. After trying other techniques for a number of years, American women tend to be older when resorting to IVF, and they may have more serious infertility.
The transfer of three or more embryos was common practice in the U.S. several years ago, but today it is rare to implant more than two embryos. Reproduction experts in the U.S. are now beginning to recommend single embryo transfer to their infertile patients, using good-quality embryos. Some couples continue to risk having twins rather than to face the possibility that a single embryo might not produce a baby.
Source: WebMD
June 6th, 2006
Women who have inherited gene mutations that increase their risk for breast cancer may benefit from having annual magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in addition to mammograms.
Defective BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes can increase a woman’s lifetime risk of getting breast cancer by 45% to 65%, according to a study published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association. However, inherited gene mutations account for only 5% to 10% of all breast cancer cases.
Mammography is usually an effective screening tool for detecting breast cancer, but the results are not always accurate. For women with especially dense breasts, mammography can be inadequate. MRI is a much more sensitive imaging technology for these women. The drawbacks are that MRI is ten times as expensive and can increase the risk of false-positive results.
Women from families with strong histories of breast cancer often have genetic testing to learn whether they have inherited mutations in their BRCA1 and/or BRCA2 genes. If these genes are defective, they are also at higher risk for ovarian cancer.
Women with known genetic susceptibility sometimes opt to have both breasts removed (bilateral mastectomy), or they take drugs such as tamoxifen in hopes of preventing cancer. Others decide to follow screening guidelines and deal with breast cancer if and when it occurs.
After age 25, annual mammograms are recommended for women with mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Breast cancers are generally rare in women under age 35. For high-risk women between ages 35 and 55, annual screening with MRI and mammography would be a sound investment in their health. After age 55, women’s breasts are not as dense, and mammography alone would probably detect even small cancers.
Improvements in mammography including digital mammograms could soon make that technology almost as sensitive as MRI and also more cost effective.
Source: WebMD
Technorati Tags: Cancer, Breast Cancer, Womens Healthcare
June 3rd, 2006