women's health

Diabetes increases the likelihood that women will develop an abnormal heart rhythm that can lead to stroke or heart failure, according to a Portland-based Kaiser Permanente researcher. Diabetes increases the likelihood that women will develop atrial fibrillation by 26 percent, said Greg Nichols, lead author of a study published in the October issue of Diabetes Care. Nichols is an Read more...

Researchers have a new remedy for women who want to stave off heart disease: Take a dose of optimism. More specifically, a new study of more than 97,000 post-menopausal women found that those with positive attitudes had a lower risk of developing heart disease than their pessimistic counterparts. Their risk of developing heart disease was 9 percent lower, and the risk of dying from any Read more...

U.S. scientists suggest estrogens affect the body's dopamine transporter, thereby explaining women's susceptibility to some neurological diseases. Researchers said Parkinson's, Tourette's and Alzheimer's diseases, along with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and schizophrenia are all associated with alterations in dopamine-driven function involving the dopamine transporter. Rebecca Read more...

Menopause is so out of the closet, women discuss hot flashes and mood swings over five o’clock cocktails with nary a blush. But as a new survey shows, some menopausal symptoms still remain taboo. Nearly 25 percent of the menopausal and postmenopausal women questioned by researchers as part of an initiative known as REVEAL (REvealing Vaginal Effects At mid-Life) admitted to experiencing Read more...

Routine tests like pap smears and mammograms are important, but don't rely on tests alone to protect you from cancer. It's just as important to listen to your body and notice anything that's different, odd, or unexplainable. You don't want to join the ranks of cancer patients who realize too late that symptoms they'd noticed for a long time could have sounded the alarm earlier, when cancer was Read more...

In Chinese Culture, a woman's midlife transition is known as her Second Spring. That's also the title of a new book -- "Second Spring: Hundreds of Natural Secrets for Women to Revitalize and Regenerate at Any Age" (Free Press, $17.99). It's authored by Dr. Maoshing Ni, a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine who co-founded the Tao of Wellness Chinese Medicine Center in southern Read more...

MONTREAL -- When it comes to immunity, men may not have been dealt an equal hand. The latest study by Dr. Maya Saleh, of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre and McGill University, shows that women have a more powerful immune system than men. In fact, the production of estrogen by females could have a beneficial effect on the innate inflammatory response against bacterial Read more...

The longer women breastfeed, the lower their risk of heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular disease, University of Pittsburgh researchers said. "We have known for years that breastfeeding is important for babies' health; we now know that it is important for mothers' health as well," Dr. Eleanor Bimla Schwarz said in a statement. The study, published in the journal Obstetrics Read more...

SEATTLE -- A large new study provides evidence that longer exposure to the body's own hormones may protect women from Parkinson's disease. The study will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 61st Annual Meeting in Seattle, April 25 to May 2, 2009. The study found that women who have more years of fertile lifespan (number of years from first menstruation to menopause) had a lower Read more...