http://www.health.am/gyneco/ http://www.health.am/gyneco/more/new-study-sounds-warning-on-hormone-replacement-therapy/ http://www.health.am/gyneco/more/new-study-sounds-warning-on-hormone-replacement-therapy/ An analysis by a federal task force finds that hormone replacement therapy’s risks may outweigh the benefits for women who are past menopause and healthy but hoping to ward off dementia, bone fractures or heart disease. Women who are past menopause and healthy should not use hormone replacement therapy in hopes of warding off dementia, bone fractures or heart disease, says a new analysis by the government task force that weighs the risks and benefits of screening and other therapies aimed at preventing illness. The recommendation by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force does not necessarily apply to women who use hormone replacement therapy to reduce menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats and vaginal dryness. The balance of harm and benefits for that use is expected to be addressed soon in a report by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.  Gynecology news 2012-05-31T21:31:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/gyneco/more/exercise-and-a-healthy-diet-of-fruits-and-vegetables/ http://www.health.am/gyneco/more/exercise-and-a-healthy-diet-of-fruits-and-vegetables/ Women in their seventies who exercise and eat healthy amounts of fruits and vegetables have a longer life expectancy, according to research published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Researchers at the University of Michigan and Johns Hopkins University studied 713 women aged 70 to 79 years who took part in the Women’s Health and Aging Studies. This study was designed to evaluate the causes and course of physical disability in older women living in the community. “A number of studies have measured the positive impact of exercise and healthy eating on life expectancy, but what makes this study unique is that we looked at these two factors together,” explains lead author, Dr. Emily J Nicklett, from the University of Michigan School of Social Work. Researchers found that the women who were most physically active and had the highest fruit and vegetable consumption were eight times more likely to survive the five-year follow-up period than the women with the lowest rates.  Gynecology news 2012-05-30T16:34:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/gyneco/more/c-section-may-double-risk-of-child-obesity/ http://www.health.am/gyneco/more/c-section-may-double-risk-of-child-obesity/ Cesarean section deliveries - already linked to an increased risk of childhood asthma—may double the risk of preschool child obesity, U.S. researchers say. Dr. Susanna Huh of Children’s Hospital in Boston and colleagues said the study involved 1,255 mother-and-child pairs who attended eight outpatient maternity services in eastern Massachusetts from 1999 to 2002. The mothers joined the study before 22 weeks of pregnancy and their babies were measured and weighed at birth, at 6 months, and 3 years. Out of the 1,255 deliveries, 22.6 percent were by Cesarean section and the remainder - 77.4 percent - were vaginal deliveries. Gynecology news 2012-05-29T10:04:01-08:00 http://www.health.am/gyneco/more/contraceptives-during-their-first-sexual-encounter1/ http://www.health.am/gyneco/more/contraceptives-during-their-first-sexual-encounter1/ Contraceptive use in Spain during the first sexual encounter is similar to other European countries. However, there are some geographical differences between Spanish regions: women in Murcia use contraceptives less (55.8%) whereas women in the Basque Country use them more (76.7%). Spanish researchers have analysed the prevalence of contraceptive use during the first sexual encounter over the last month in 5,141 sexually active women between the ages of 15 and 49 years through Spain’s 17 autonomous communities. “Bearing in mind the individual factors amongst women that determine contraceptive use, living in one autonomous community or another also has an influence,” as explained to SINC by Dolores Ruiz Muñoz, researcher at the Public Health Agency of Barcelona and lead author of the study. Published in the Health & Place journal, the results reveal that the prevalence of contraceptive use during the first sexual encounter is 70.4%. It varies in the different regions from 55.8% in Murcia to 76.7% in the Basque Country.  Gynecology news 2012-05-28T20:39:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/gyneco/more/effective-birth-control-methods/ http://www.health.am/gyneco/more/effective-birth-control-methods/ A new study has found that shorter-acting methods of birth control, such as the Pill and the contraceptive patch, are much less effective at preventing unintended pregnancies than long-acting birth control methods such as intrauterine devices, or IUDs, and implants. There are approximately six million pregnancies in the U.S. each year, and about half of them are unplanned. Approximately half of the unintended pregnancies are due to contraceptive failure, especially among younger women who use short-acting birth control methods. These include the Pill, which must be taken daily, and the hormone patch, which women must remember to change on a regular basis. Jeffrey Piepert, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, says experts knew that so-called longer-acting reversible contraceptives, or LARC (LARK) methods, offered better protection against pregnancy than the Pill or the patch. Gynecology news 2012-05-25T18:19:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/gyneco/more/contraceptives-during-their-first-sexual-encounter/ http://www.health.am/gyneco/more/contraceptives-during-their-first-sexual-encounter/ Contraceptive use in Spain during the first sexual encounter is similar to other European countries. However, there are some geographical differences between Spanish regions: women in Murcia use contraceptives less (55.8%) whereas women in the Basque Country use them more (76.7%). Spanish researchers have analysed the prevalence of contraceptive use during the first sexual encounter over the last month in 5,141 sexually active women between the ages of 15 and 49 years through Spain’s 17 autonomous communities. “Bearing in mind the individual factors amongst women that determine contraceptive use, living in one autonomous community or another also has an influence,” as explained to SINC by Dolores Ruiz Muñoz, researcher at the Public Health Agency of Barcelona and lead author of the study. Gynecology news 2012-05-25T04:36:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/gyneco/more/long-term-contraception-more-effective/ http://www.health.am/gyneco/more/long-term-contraception-more-effective/ A large real-life test of birth control methods found more U.S. women got pregnant while using short-acting methods such as pills, patches and vaginal rings - and the failure rate was highest when they were used by women under 21. In a new study published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, about 7,500 women and teens in the St. Louis area were allowed to pick from a variety of contraception methods at no cost. Over the course of the study - more than three years for women who completed all follow-up interviews - participants had a total of 334 unintended pregnancies. “We found that participants using oral contraceptive pills, a transdermal patch or a vaginal ring had a risk of contraceptive failure that was 20 times as high as the risk among those using long-acting reversible contraception,” said the research team, led by Dr. Brooke Winner of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Gynecology news 2012-05-23T19:10:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/gyneco/more/gay-couples-and-women-over-40/ http://www.health.am/gyneco/more/gay-couples-and-women-over-40/ Gay couples and women over 40 will be entitled to free IVF treatment on the NHS for the first time under Government guidelines published today. Same-sex couples will be given the same rights as heterosexual couples under guidance issued by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. The NHS will also extend the upper age limit for IVF by three years to 42, following advice that suggests many women in their late 30s and early 40s could conceive after treatment. The move will see thousands of women a year given the chance to become mothers without having to pay up to £8,000 to private clinics. Gynecology news 2012-05-22T00:59:01-08:00 http://www.health.am/gyneco/more/health-secretary-urges-contraception-compromise/ http://www.health.am/gyneco/more/health-secretary-urges-contraception-compromise/ The Obama administration’s top health official on Friday took the debate over whether healthcare coverage should include contraceptives to the campus of a Catholic university that has been deeply divided over the administration’s policy. U.S. Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, in a speech at Georgetown University a few miles from the White House, praised the new U.S. healthcare law requiring coverage and called for “conversation and compromise.” Sebelius has become the public face for the contraception rules issued earlier this year that have provoked fierce backlash from Catholic Church officials, political conservatives and anti-abortion advocates. The issue has become a point of debate in the U.S. presidential race. Gynecology news 2012-05-18T15:19:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/gyneco/more/contraceptive-ring-patch/ http://www.health.am/gyneco/more/contraceptive-ring-patch/ Women who use some non-oral forms of hormonal contraception are at higher risk of blood clots than those not taking any hormone-based birth control, a Danish study suggests. In Friday’s issue of the British Medical Journal, Professor Øjvind Lidegaard at the University of Copenhagen reviewed data on risks of the patches and rings for venous thrombosis among all Danish non-pregnant women aged 15 to 49 from 2001 to 2010. During the study period, the researchers found 3,434 confirmed diagnoses of venous thrombosis - a clot blocking a vein or artery. Gynecology news 2012-05-12T21:58:00-08:00