Women Health Article: Cholesterol Disturbances Impair Stroke Recovery

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - New research suggests that people are at an increased risk of memory problems and greater disability after stroke if they have low levels of "good" HDL cholesterol and high levels of homocysteine, an amino acid acquired mostly from eating meat. "These findings show metabolic stress plays a significant role in stroke recovery," lead author Dr. George C. Newman, from the Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, said in a statement.

The study involved 3,680 men and women over age 35 in the United States, Canada, and Scotland who had suffered a mild to moderate stroke within the past three months. All of them completed tests of brain function and disability and were followed for two years.

The researchers identified several factors that predicted memory and disability problems after stroke: increased age, non-Caucasian race, recurrent stroke, diabetes, stroke in the left side of the brain, higher levels of homocysteine and lower levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDL), otherwise known as "good" cholesterol.

"People with low levels of HDL, high levels of homocysteine, and diabetes are twice as likely as those without such problems to have poorer cognitive function and greater disability after stroke," Newman noted in a statement.

"The study also found stroke recovery was the most difficult for people over the age of 57 with high levels of homocysteine, which is a risk factor for heart problems and associated with low levels of vitamin B6, B12, folic acid and kidney disease," he added.

It's currently unclear why these factors are contributing to a slower stroke recovery and more research is needed, Newman said. "We need to focus our attention on identifying and treating these vascular risk factors since they can be modified."

Source: life script .com

Women Health Article: Stop Smooking!

Lung cancer, not breast cancer, is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women. Almost all lung cancer deaths in women are caused by smoking.

If you smoke, quitting now is the best thing you can do for your health. You'll have more energy, you'll breathe easier, and your children and other people in your home will be healthier too.

There are plenty of important reasons to quit smoking now. It's good for your heart, good for your lungs, and good for your family. When you stop smoking a pack a day, you'll save $1,800 a year on cigarettes.

Here are some more good reasons to quit smoking:

• Working women smokers report more days lost from work from illness and injury than working women who do not smoke.
  
  
• Heart disease is the #1 killer of women in the United States. You are 4 times more likely to die from coronary heart disease if you smoke.
  
  
• Women who smoke have more heart attacks, cancers, oral health problems and lung conditions.

• Women who smoke are more likely to have a miscarriage or a lower birth-weight baby.
  
  
• Tobacco is responsible for 17% of all female deaths in the United States.
  
  
• Most deaths attributable to tobacco are from lung cancer, coronary heart disease, and chronic airway obstruction.
  
  
• Women who smoke are more likely to develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) than their male counterparts.
  
  
• Females appear to be more sensitive to second-hand smoke than males.
  
  
• Men and women may start smoking for different reasons. Men report starting to smoke to be more energetic and alert, whereas women start smoking for stress reduction.
  
  
• When women smoke and drink alcohol, the nicotine appears to enhance the effects of alcohol. In men, the nicotine appears to dilute some of the sedating and intoxicating effects of alcohol.
  
  
• Although high school girls and boys use tobacco products at approximately equal rates, among those who do not smoke, girls were 54% more likely than boys to report that they had considered smoking.
  
  
• Women are less successful than men in quitting smoking, although they join smoking cessation groups more often than men for social support.
  
  
• Women experience more severe withdrawal symptoms than men when quitting smoking.
  
  
• Girls born to mothers who smoke have worse lung function compared to boys.

Source: her healthy life .org & her cancer .com

Women Health Article: What is Obesity ?

Excess body weight can indicate obesity as an independent condition. Obesity can also arise due to various underlying conditions. Excess weight or unexplained weight gain need careful professional medical attention for correct diagnosis.

Causes of Obesity:

The following medical conditions are some of the possible causes of Obesity. There are likely to be other possible causes, so ask your doctor about your symptoms.

• Middle age spread
• Reduced metabolic rate
• Pituitary gland disease
• Pituitary gland tumor
• Pituitary gland cancer
• Underactive thyroid gland
• Prader-Willi syndrome
• Syndrome X
• Stein-Leventhal syndrome
• Frohlich syndrome
• Laurence-Moon-Biedl syndrome

Source: wrong diagnosi s.com

Women Health Article: Causes of Obesity and Overweight in Children and Adults

Usually there is not only one single cause for obesity. Overweight is caused by eating to much fat. Biological as well as life-style factors contribute to this problem. A lot of obese people are not aware of their physical hunger and satisfaction. They lack a natural control of their eating and can, because of that, more easily be caught in an abuse of food. Such a person eats in order to suppress negative feelings, and to escape problems instead of facing up to them.

Source web 4 health.info

Women Health Article: The Obesity Health Risks

Body fat is good for you. It protects internal organs, isolate the organism thermically and softens blows.

However, obesity is harmful and excessive weight can provoke serious disorders and obese people have from double to triple the probability of dying prematurely, compared to people with normal weight.

A person is called obese when the Body Mass Index greater than 30. When the BMI is greater than 40 we speak about grave obesity, which implies a serious risk for the person’s health.

An obese person has a weight that exceeds by far the ideal one estimated from a health point of view (and also from an insurance point of view).

An obese person runs the risk of a range of diseases that are linked to obesity and are more probable when the obesity level is higher.

These diseases are: diabetes, bilary calculosis, respiratory insufficiency, nocturnal apnoea, cardiovascular diseases, arterial hypertension, arthrosis of backbone and of lower limbs, fertility anomalies, cancer.

The obesity state is also a specific risk factor for anaesthetic accidents, if you need a general anaesthesia to undergo a surgical operation.

It has been proved that these risks can be greatly reduced by keeping some parameters under control. Paradoxically, among them weight will be less influential. Recent research has demonstrated that a 10% initial weight loss is enough. It is an easy goal to reach and to maintain and in time it is a sufficient factor to decrease mortality caused by obesity by 20%, decrease by 40% mortality linked to the cancer risk, and decrease by 30% mortality linked to diabetes.

So a little weight loss can bring great benefits to health. But how can we define the risk index more accurately? How can we know when it is opportune to lose weight?

After having calculated your BMI, you also need to measure the waist, as it measures the abdominal obesity level, because abdominal obesity level is another factor directly linked to the health risk of obesity.

However, waist measurement is a useful figure only when the BMI value is under 35%, because if it is greater it means that the risk index is too high. To decrease the pathological risk index linked to obesity, waist measurements should be kept below 88 cm for women and 102 cm for men.

Weight loss is therefore highly advisable when:

• BMI is greater than 30
• BMI is between 25/30 but waist measurement is greater than 88 cm for women and 102 for men
• There are pathological conditions linked to obesity (respiratory, cardiovascular, diabetes, etc) that are already in progress.

In all these cases, following a weight control program nowadays available in many hospital centres, it is possible to significantly decrease pathological risks linked to the obesity condition, even without submitting to an exhausting and inadequate diet.

Source web 4 health.info

Women Health Article: Depression in Women

Is depression common in women?
Yes. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, more than 19 million people in the United States -- 1 in 10 adults -- experience depression each year. Women are twice as likely as men to experience depression. In fact, more than 6 million women experience depression each year.


What are the symptoms?
Doctors continue to learn about how women are affected by depression, but there are some common symptoms. If you're depressed, you may have some of these symptoms nearly every day, all day, for 2 weeks or longer:

• Feeling sad or crying a lot
• Losing interest or pleasure in things you used to enjoy (including sex)
• Feeling guilty, hopeless or worthless
• Thinking about death or suicide
• Sleeping too much, or not being able to go to sleep or stay asleep
• Losing your appetite and losing weight (or eating too much and gaining weight)
• Feeling very tired or slowed down
• Having trouble paying attention and making decisions
• Having aches and pains that don't get better with treatment

What causes depression?
Depression seems to be related to a chemical imbalance in the brain that makes it hard for the cells to communicate with one another. Stressful life events, such as the death of a loved one, a divorce or moving (such as leaving home to go to college), may lead to depression. Taking certain medicines, abusing drugs or alcohol, or having other illnesses can also cause depression.

Women with premenstrual syndrome (PMS) are more likely to become depressed. Depression is more common a week before a woman's period and in the weeks after a woman gives birth (this is called postpartum depression). In some women, taking birth control pills may cause symptoms of depression.


How is depression treated?
Depression can be treated with counseling, medicine or both. It's also important to take good care of yourself, to exercise regularly and to eat healthy foods. See the list of dos and don'ts later in this handout. Counseling alone may help if the depression isn't severe.

Antidepressant medicines are very effective in treating depression. There are many different kinds of antidepressants. Your doctor will decide which one is right for you. Medicine alone or medicine with counseling can help most women who have depression.


Some dos and don'ts when you're depressed

• Don't isolate yourself. Stay in touch with your loved ones and friends, your religious advisor, and your family doctor.
• Don't make major life decisions (for example, about separation or divorce). You may not be thinking clearly right now, so your decisions may not be the best ones for you.
• Don't blame yourself for your depression. You didn't cause it.
• Don't be discouraged about not feeling well right away. Be patient with yourself.
• Don't give up.
• Do exercise every day to make yourself feel better and to get more energy.
• Do eat balanced meals and healthy food, and get enough sleep.
• Do take your medicine and/or go to counseling as often as your doctor tells you to. Your medicine won't work if you only take it once in a while.
• Do set small goals for yourself, because you may have less energy.
• Do encourage yourself.
• Do get as much information as you can about depression and its treatment.
• Do call your doctor or the local suicide crisis center right away if you start thinking about suicide.

Are antidepressants safe for any woman with depression?
If you're planning to get pregnant, talk to your doctor about your medicines before you try to get pregnant. If you accidentally get pregnant while you're taking an antidepressant, tell your doctor right away. Your doctor will know if your medicine is safe to take.

Almost all medicines for depression can pass into your breast milk. If you are planning to breast feed or you currently breast feed, talk to your doctor about your medicine.

In most cases, it's OK to take birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy (also called HRT) at the same time as depression medicines. Taking hormones may even help some depressed women feel better. However, if your birth control pills seem to be causing symptoms of depression, discuss this with your doctor. He or she may suggest you use another method to prevent pregnancy for several months in order to find out if your birth control pills are causing depression.


Do antidepressants have side effects?
Like most medicines, antidepressants can cause side effects. However, not all people taking antidepressants experience side effects. Any side effects you have will depend on which medicine your doctor has chosen for you.

If you're taking a tricyclic antidepressant, you may have a dry mouth, constipation, blurred vision, a "spacy" feeling, bladder problems, tiredness, sleepiness, dizziness, shaky hands, fast heartbeat or weight gain.

If you're taking a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), you may have nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, nervousness, sleepiness or trouble sleeping, or problems with sex (inability to have an orgasm).

Other antidepressants can cause similar side effects. If a side effect of your antidepressant bothers you, talk to your doctor about it


How will I know if an antidepressant is helping?
You'll sleep better. Your appetite will improve, and you'll have more energy. You'll have a better feeling about the future. You'll feel less sad, and it will be easier to make decisions. Be patient -- you may notice improvement as soon as 1 week after you start taking an antidepressant, but you probably won't see the full effects for about 6 to 8 weeks.


How long will I need to take the medicine?
How long you'll need to take the medicine depends on your depression. If this is the first time you've been depressed, your doctor will probably want you to take the medicine for about 6 months. If this is the second time you've been depressed, you'll probably take the medicine for about 1 year. However, if this is the third or fourth time you've been depressed, you may need to take the medicine for years so the depression doesn't come back.

Source: family doctor.org

Women Health Article: What is Menopause?

What is menopause?
Menopause is the time in a woman's life when her periods stop and she can't have children anymore. This happens because as a woman ages, her ovaries stop making enough of the female hormones estrogen and progesterone.


When does menopause occur?
The average age for women to have their last period is about 50. But it's normal for menopause to occur any time from age 41 to 59. A woman often goes through menopause at about the same age as her mother.

Women who have both ovaries removed will go through "surgical menopause" at the time of their surgery. If the uterus is taken out but the ovaries are left, a woman won't have periods but she will only go through menopause when her ovaries stop making estrogen.

If you stop having periods early--before age 40--your doctor can do a blood test to see if you're going through menopause.

Menopause is a gradual process that can take several years. You're not really through menopause until you haven't had a period for 12 months. (During this time, keep using birth control if you don't want to become pregnant.)


Talk to your doctor if you have:

• A change in your monthly cycle
• Heavy bleeding
• Bleeding that lasts longer than usual
• Bleeding more often than every 3 weeks
• Bleeding after sexual intercourse
• Any blood staining between periods

What are the common signs and symptoms of menopause?

Some women just stop having periods. Others experience symptoms, such as the following:

A change in your menstrual cycle. This is one of the first signs of menopause. You may skip periods or they may occur closer together. Your flow may be lighter or heavier than usual.

Hot flashes. Hot flashes are the most common symptom of menopause.

When you have a hot flash, you'll feel warm from your chest to your head, often in wave-like sensations. Your skin may turn red and you may sweat. You may feel sick to your stomach and dizzy. You may also have a headache and feel like your heart is beating very fast and hard.

Thinning of your vagina and vulva (the area around your vagina). The skin of your vagina and vulva becomes thinner with menopause. Your vagina also loses its ability to produce as much lubrication (wetness) during sexual arousal. These changes can lead to pain during sex.

You can use an estrogen cream (put in and around your vagina) or a water-based lubricant (such as K-Y Jelly) to make sex less painful.

Urinary tract problems. You're more likely to have bladder and urinary tract infections during and after menopause. Talk to your doctor if you have to go to the bathroom often, feel an urgent need to urinate, feel a burning sensation when urinating or are not able to urinate.

Headaches, night sweats, trouble sleeping and tiredness are other symptoms. Trouble sleeping and feeling tired may be caused by hot flashes and night sweats.


Does menopause have emotional symptoms?
Many women experience emotional symptoms during menopause. These symptoms may include sadness, anxiety and loss of sleep. For some women, symptoms can be severe. If you find that you're having emotional problems, talk to your family doctor.


What is hormone replacement therapy?
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) involves taking estrogen alone or estrogen combined with another hormone, progestin. Some women have found that HRT can relieve symptoms such as hot flashes, vaginal dryness and some urinary problems. However, HRT is not for everyone. New information from recent studies suggests that for many women, the risks of using HRT may outweigh the benefits. Talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits of HRT.


Are other treatments available?
Yes. Medicines such as estrogen cream, antidepressants, soy products and certain herbal supplements may help ease some menopausal symptoms. Discuss these options with your doctor.

Source: family doctor.org