Catch 22: Hot flashes, or cancer?

Menopausal women who take estrogen and progesterone pills may face a small increased risk of cancer long after they’ve stopped, according to a federal study about the hormone therapy.

Washingtonpost.com posted an article today about the results of the study, which surveyed more than 15,000 women who took the hormones. The study, which was done by the federally-funded Women’s Health Initiative, found that the chance of developing cancer remained elevated for more than two years after they quit.

Women use hormone therapy to relieve hot flashes and other symptoms of menopause. As the Post reports, the new study follows a 2002 study, which found that the hormones increased the risk of heart attacks, strokes, blood clots and breast cancer.

These results bring up two important questions:

When do risks outweigh the benefits?

What about estrogen and progesterone birth control pills?

For a more complete summary of the results, check out washingtonpost.com’s video, featuring interviews with expert sources.

Once upon a time, single girls couldn’t use tampons…

I often check this Vintage Ads blog for an occasional laugh.

Some of the ads are not only funny, they also capture such a stark contrast in societal values, that they’re shocking. Here’s one from a mere 40 years ago. Isn’t it interesting that an ad like this would never fly in a women’s magazine today?

That in itself is a social commentary all on it’s own.

Posted by LiveJournal user sicily_1922

How about a vaccine cocktail, kid?

Ever heard of Generaton Rescue?

Me neither, at least, not until I read this interesting blog post by a Dourapple reader, Ruby.

Generation Rescue is a group of concerned parents who are convinced that neurological disorders like Autism, ADD/ADHD and Asperger’s are caused by an overload of heavy metals, bacteria and live viruses (as in vaccines).

The group runs controversial full page ads in The New York Times and USA Today, accusing the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of carelessly approving too many vaccines for use on children.

According to the Generation Rescue Web site, the CDC recommended only 10 vaccines for children in 1983, and now, the CDC recommends 36. (See Generation Rescue’s comparison here.)

The group commissioned a research firm to survey more than 17,000 children in California and Oregon, comparing unvaccinated and vaccinated children. They say they found that vaccinated boys had a 155 percent greater chance of having a neurological disorder like ADHD or autism than unvaccinated boys. Read the results here.

As Ruby pointed it out in her blog, it makes you wonder about who to trust. Doctors, big pharma and the government, or interest groups and testimonials from real people?

Drunkorexia: the new eating disorder?

I just stumbled across this article in the Sunday edition of The New York Times. It’s about an eating disorder in which people combine alcohol abuse with self-imposed starving or bingeing and purging.

The trend is called “drunkorexia,” which like “manorexia,” is not an official medical term. It’s particularly common, the article says, among college women who starve all day to offset the calories in the alcohol they consume, usually by partying at night.

It’s also associated particularly with bulimia, which often involves bingeing on food and then purging. Anorexics, on the other hand, tend to steer clear of alcohol altogether as they restrict their calorie intake.

As a student at Arizona State University, I wouldn’t need to see a study to know “drunkorexia” is a real problem. My guess is, any other college student will tell you the same thing. It’s unfortunate but true.

Pregnant women return to work faster, more new dads take paternity leave

Women are working longer into their pregnancies and returning to work faster after giving birth, according to a U.S. Census report released Feb. 28.

The report analyzed Census records on maternity leave and working pregnant women from the 1960s until 2000. In 2000, 67 percent of women worked during their pregnancies, as compared to 44 percent in 1961.

The results aren’t surprising, considering an entire shift of trends affecting women in the workplace. Since the early 1960s, pregnant women have had more opportunities for maternity leave and increased protection against job discrimination.

Both the New York Times and Medical News Today published articles about the report.

I’m wondering why this report took so long to release, considering the last Census was eight years ago. Data from 2000 almost seems irrelevant in 2008. I’m sure the numbers of working pregnant women have increased even more in that time frame, especially because of another key trend: more dads are taking paternity leave!

According to a Columbia University study published in June 2007, nearly 90 percent of new dads take paternity leave. Plus, a 2007 study by the Society for Human Resource Management reported that 17 percent of U.S. companies now have paid paternity-leave policies.

This just in… 10 year olds are dieting

An increasing number of children are developing eating disorders, according to a report by a FOX television station in Oregon.

About 63 percent of elementary school teachers are concerned about eating disorders in their classrooms, and apparently, they have good reason to be! About 80 percent of preteen girls are dieting, the report said, and those who diet are eight times more likely to develop an eating disorder.

Eighty-one percent of 10 year olds are already worrying about “becoming fat.”

They’re 10. Shouldn’t they be playing capture the flag or something?

Flickr photos about HPV, Gardasil and cervical cancer…

Click here for the photo essay… 

This just in… Top headlines

A lot happened today in women’s health news, especially related to HPV and cervical cancer. Here are today’s top headlines:

Stress may contribute to cervical cancer
Voice of America
How women deal with stress may affect their risk of cervical cancer.

Having HPV helps with head and neck cancer treatments
The Johns Hopkins News-Letter
Researchers have shown that infection with HPV actual improves a patient’s chance of survival if they have head and neck cancer.

Strong response to HPV vaccine in Atlantic Canada
CBC Nova Scotia
About 80 percent of girls in Atlantic Canada eligible to receive the HPV vaccine have taken advantage of the program, health officials there say.

HPV-related cancers becoming more common
Reuters Health
The incidence of oral cancers related to human papillomavirus (HPV) appears to be increasing in the United States, researchers report in the February 1st issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

GlaxoSmithKline’s cervical cancer vaccine free in South Africa?
The Times, South Africa
A government council in South Africa, last week, gave GlaxoSmithKline the go-ahead to distribute its cervical cancer vaccine in South Africa. A cancer association there says the department of health should make the vaccine free to the public.

It’s hard to believe this, but… Lysol was once a women’s “beauty” product

This just in… ‘Spanking raises chances of risky, deviant sexual behavior’

Spanking your children may lead to risky sexual behavior latter in life, scientists say.

According to a report in HealthDay News today, a recent study by a “spanking expert” has proven that spanking and other corporal punishment is related to a higher chance of committing date rape, premarital sex, sex without a condom and masochistic sex such as spanking during sex.

It adds to a slew of studies by psychologists and other researchers, including the revered Dr. Spock, that correlates spanking children with aggression, criminal and abusive behavior later in life.

In the article, the lead researcher, Murray Straus says he found that out of people who have never been spanked, five percent hit their partners. In contrast, out of those who were spanked frequently as children, 25 percent hit their partners.

But Straus also says, some 90 percent of U.S. parents spank toddlers.

I don’t know what my stance on spanking is exactly, as I’m not a parent and I haven’t given it much thought. However, I do know that I was spanked as a child when I did something wrong. (And when I say spank, I’m talking about a strong pat on the behind, not anything that I would consider abusive, resulting in bruises or massive pain). If we’re on the same page as far as that definition is concerned, I don’t think the occasional spanking is really all that bad – and I certainly doubt that spanking of that kind messes a kid up to the point of sexually deviant behavior. Then again, I’m not a psychologist.

Outlawing spankings altogether reminds me of the anti-red pen movement. Maybe you’ve heard of this, maybe not – but there are some parents and educators who believe that using a red pen on a child’s schoolwork is demoralizing and can have a negative psychological effect in the longterm.

That conclusion seems a little extreme to me. Discipline, punishments and constructive criticism all play an integral role in teaching children basic lessons and lifeskills, as does positive reinforcement as well. Taking any of those things to the extreme, however, is obviously not a good thing. A little bit can go a long way, on the other hand, and not be an entirely bad thing.