Women who discussed reconstruction with their surgeons were significantly more likely to undergo mastectomy than women who did not have such counsel.
Although surgical decision making about breast-conserving surgery (BCS) versus mastectomy has been studied extensively, we know less about the nature of guidance provided by clinicians regarding breast reconstruction and how such counsel affects the choices of women with newly diagnosed breast cancer.

for full article, copy and paste this link:
http://womens-health.jwatch.org/cgi/content/full/2008/228/1?q=etoc_jwwomen

After more than 20 years of studying women’s health issues, psychologist Alice Domar has come to a grand conclusion: Women are just too hard on themselves.

There is no pill that will cure this self-imposed pressure - which Domar says creates harmful stress and makes dealing with everything from eating disorders to infertility more difficult.

People will take pills, Domar says. That’s easy. What’s hard is to get women to accept what she says is obvious to men: Perfection is not attainable.

for full article, copy and paste this link:
http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2008/02/25/its_time_to_stop_trying_to_be_perfect_psychologist_says/

A Southern California woman who had her medical coverage canceled as she was undergoing treatment for breast cancer was awarded more than $9 million Friday in a case against one of California’s largest health insurers.

Patsy Bates, 52, a hairdresser from Lakewood (Los Angeles County), had been left with more than $129,000 in unpaid medical bills when Health Net Inc. canceled her policy in 2004. The insurer contended Bates failed to disclose a heart condition and lied about her weight when she applied for the policy in July 2003.

But arbitration judge Sam Cianchetti ordered Health Net to pay her medical bills, plus $8.4 million in punitive damages and $750,000 for emotional distress.

for full story, copy and paste this link:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/23/BU7NV7CSI.DTL

Strokes have tripled in recent years among middle-aged women in the U.S., an alarming trend doctors blame on the obesity epidemic. Nearly 2 percent of women ages 35 to 54 reported suffering a stroke in the most recent federal health survey, from 1999 to 2004. Only about half a percent did in the previous survey, from 1988 to 1994.

The percentage is small because most strokes occur in older people. But the sudden spike in middle age and the reasons behind it are ominous, doctors said in research presented Wednesday at a medical conference.

It happened even though more women in the recent survey were on medicines to control their cholesterol and blood pressure — steps that lower the risk of stroke.

Women’s waistlines are nearly two inches bigger than they were a decade earlier, and that bulge corresponds with the increase in strokes, researchers said.

for full article, copy and paste this link:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gE7RfJzvg_eJpvc4dtaliRjL3UFgD8UU9LF80

Women face unique challenges in keeping their blood pressure under control, and this may help explain why more women than men struggle with uncontrolled blood pressure.

That’s just one of a series of conclusions based on studies published in a special issue of the journalHypertension. The issue commemorates the fifth anniversary of the American Heart Association’s “Go Red For Women” campaign, which is designed to focus awareness of heart-disease risks for women.

for full story, copy and paste this link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/19/AR2008021901027.html

Maybe it won’t surprise you – today least of all – to discover there’s an actual medical condition called broken heart syndrome. It’s caused by a tragic or shocking event that stuns the heart, producing classic heart-attack symptoms, such as chest pain and shortness of breath.
Fortunately, broken heart syndrome isn’t fatal. Indeed, its effects are transitory, usually soothed by a few days of bed rest and fluids, with no permanent cardiac damage.

Still, if you’re a woman, take care: Your heart may be at greater risk than you think.

In fact, cardiovascular disease kills almost 500,000 American women each year, twice the number of all female cancer deaths combined.

for full article, copy and paste this link:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/health/20080214-9999-1c14heart.html

Dr. Nieca Goldberg, on the Today Show, says “Every day in my practice, I meet women who have gone from doctor to doctor with symptoms of exhaustion, sleeplessness, and low back pain. They have had enough blood tests and X-rays to last a lifetime, yet they have no diagnosis to explain their symptoms or any help in reducing them. None of the physicians seems to have taken the time and trouble to ask these women how they were feeling or to discuss what was going on in their lives.”

copy and paste this link for the full story:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23066288/

Research by internet analysts comScore revealed that 85 per cent of women using the internet have searched for information on women’s health issues online, with 63 per cent of these women going online specifically to learn about birth control options.

Figures show that overall 60 per cent of people in the UK considered the internet their primary resource for health advice.

copy and paste this link for full story:
http://www.lookinggood-feelinggreat.co.uk/LatestNewsnbsp/tabid/54/articleID/18456291/Default.aspx

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says HPV infects approximately 20 million people in the U.S. with 6.2 million new cases each year. There is no treatment for HPV, only for related health problems.

for full story, copy and paste this link:
http://www.al.com/living/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/living/120220652357240.xml&coll=1

On February 11th at 7 p.m. visit http://www.OR-Live.com to see our leading clinicians address these topics:

Cardiologist Paula Johnson, MD, MPH will highlight what’s new in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, with a special focus on high-risk groups.

Endocrinologist JoAnn Manson, MD, DrPH and principal investigator of the Nurses Health Study, will discuss key findings in HRT, aspirin and prevention.

Registered dietician Kathy McManus, MS, RD, LDN will present on three emerging nutrition issues:

Trans fat and weight

Diet and inflammation

OMNI study (unsaturated fat/protein before carbs)

Cardiologist and US News & World Report health editor Bernadine Healy, MD, will moderate the discussion, and questions from the live and online audience.

for further info, go here:
http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=817371