Do taking vitamin D and fish oil really lower the risk of cancer, heart disease, stroke and other illnesses as some research studies (and supplement manufacturers) have suggested?  Beginning in January, researchers at Harvard University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital will begin a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, the gold standard of research, to find out. The new study, called VITAL (VITamin D and OmegA-e TriaL), funded by the National Institute of Health, will involve 20,000 men and women. If you qualify (women must be 65 years or older and have never had a heart attack, stroke or cancer) you can participate too.

For details about the study and eligibility to participate, visit the VITAL website.

The appeals court said “the evidence presented could allow a jury to find or infer that Wyeth was guilty of malicious conduct.”  According to the news report, Pfizer’s lawyers argued that the plaintiff received ample warning about the cancer risks tied to the company’s Prempro and Premarin drugs and chose to continue using them.

Interestingly, more than 80% of the registrants are women with an average age is 45.  Registry members have lost an average of 66 pounds and kept it off for 5.5 years. Duration of successful weight loss has ranged from 1 year to 66 years! According to the registry data, here’s how they did it:

• 45 %  lost the weight on their own, while the other 55%  had help from some type of program.
• Nearly all of the registry participants (98%) report that they modified their food intake in some way to lose weight.
• And, nearly all (94%) increased their physical activity, with the most frequently reported form of activity being walking.
• Most of the registrants continue to maintain a low calorie, low fat diet and doing high levels of activity (90% exercise, on average, about 1 hour per day)

Even if you don’t qualify, you’ll be inspired by the weight loss success stories that are posted on the NWCR website.

If you’ve lost a significant amount of weight, what’s been your secret to success?

• rates of diseases such as cancer and depression
• factors that affect access to health care including the number of doctors per capita
• environmental and community measures such as air quality and crime rates

Interestingly, this year, “quality of sleep” was added as a determining factor.  Charleston, WV took the prize for being the worst sleeping area with the average woman experiencing insomnia 3 to 4 nights per week.  What’s going on there?

In front of San Francisco were Burlington, VT  in the top spot (which has 40 percent more ob/gyns than the list’s average), followed by Bethesda, MD, Portland, ME, and Cambridge, MA.

Additional results?  Women in Madison, WI exercise the most while those living in El Paso, TX have the fewest health clubs to choose from.  Raleigh, NC has the cleanest water but Riverside, CA has the most toxic sites.  Women in Las Vegas have the fewest Pap smears and Rockingham County, NH has the fewest STDs.  And even though San Francisco ranks high among the best places for women to live, we seem to have the most allergies and asthma.  I guess you can’t win ‘em all. It’s a beautiful city anyway.

Details of the survey can be found in Self Magazine’s November issue. You can log onto their website to see how your own state fared.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists  has recently launched a website for women who are approaching or going through menopause.  The website and the companion magazine, Pause, covers a lot of territory - from hot flashes to urinary incontinence.  The section on Menopause will likely be most helpful to women in the peri-menopause stage, who are still trying to figure out what’s happening to them.

However, there are sections on the site about Tests & Procedures, Conditions or Health Problems,  Cancer, and Your Annual Check-Up (about health screening tests women over 45 should have annually) that are all informative and important to know about.

Borysenko has just come out with a new book, It’s Not the End of the World, Developing Resilience in Times of Change about practicing and mastering resilience in times of crisis (she seems to have timed the publication of this book just right!) and living life with vision and purpose.  She’s also hosting a free, five-part online series on Hay House Radio, to offer “the steps you need to develop more strength and happiness.”  Her sessions include interviews with “the most influential leaders in the field of mind-body wellness about resilience and overcoming stress.” (more…)

If you’d like some help finding a blog that’s informative and relevant to your interests, check out this list of 100 Best Blogs on Boomer Health.   It’s always nice when someone does all of this research for you and even provides links, so be sure to bookmark it for future reference.The list is organized into 15 different categories and the section on blogs about women’s health includes this one on menopause (#35) and several that I follow and have included on my blogroll, including Aging Fabulous, and Our Bodies our Blog.

One blog that I’ve recently discovered that isn’t on this list is The Perimenopause Blog.  Women just beginning the mid-life transition will find this site particularly helpful, so if you know any 40-something women who are complaining about insomnia, weight gain and other unexpected changes to their bodies, send them to this blog for help.

Do you have a favorite blog that’s helped you on your mid-life journey?

I often write about the findings of research studies of interest to women in mid-life. However, I’ve recently learned about an opportunity to actually participate in one and I’m passing this information to you so you can sign up too.

It’s an internet study that is being funded by the NIH to explore ethnic differences in midlife women’s attitudes towards physical activity.  The goal is to “reduce health disparities in physical activity programs that serve ethnic minority women through the internet.”

The researchers at the University of Texas at Austin are seeking a total of 500 participants, 125 for each ethnic category (White, Hispanic, Black, Asian). To participate, visit their website  to learn more and see if you qualify. If you are eligible, you’ll receive a gift certificate of $10 per internet survey and an additional gift certificate of $50 for participating in an online forum for six months.

Editor’s note:  Earlier this month, I wrote about a webinar on Bioidentical Hormone Therapy,  that was “supported” by Ascend Therapeutics, makers of an FDA-approved topical estrogen gel that competes with compounded hormone products.  There’s a companion magazine, “The Buzz on Bioidenticals,”  that is available free online and in doctors’ offices and it, too, is “supported”  by Ascend. The publication repeatedly cautions women against using compounding pharmacies and, in an article called “Why You Should Avoid Compounded Hormone Therapy” the writers suggest that doing so poses a risk to our health.

In the interest of fairness and to contribute to a balanced discussion that will help you make an informed decision about using compounded, bio-identical hormones, I contacted Christine Givant (pictured below), a pharmacist and founder of La Vita Compounding Pharmacy, in San Diego, to ask her to respond to some statements made in the “Buzz on Bioidenticals” publication.

Wendy:  First, explain what a compounding pharmacy does and why a woman on hormone therapy would choose to have her hormones “compounded.”  What does that mean exactly?

Christine:  A compounding pharmacy serves many vital purposes. To begin with, it allows the physician the opportunity to customize therapy to a patient’s individual needs. For example, Ascend Therapeutics offers a hormone product that comes in one strength, one dosage form, and one delivery device. Well, that will work for some women, but not all. A compounding pharmacy would be able to make it in the exact strength your physician determines you need and put it in a variety of dosage forms depending on your lifestyle (i.e gel, cream, suppository, lozenge, capsule, sub-lingual drop). A compounding pharmacy could also combine a daily hormone regimen into one cream, which could result in increased compliance and a lower cost to the patient. (more…)