Women’s Health

Duke University scientists find women need more sleep than men

If the woman in your life woke up grumpy this morning, don’t be too hard on her. It is, apparently, only natural.

Scientists at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina discovered that women need more sleep than men. And chances are, she’s not getting enough.

In fact the best thing a loving husband or partner can do is perhaps persuade her to get a few extra hours snuggling under the duvet. Or face the consequences.

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Scientists say women suffer more than men, both mentally and physically, if they are forced to skimp on their sleep.

As well as a higher risk of heart disease, depression and psychological problems, sleep-deprived women have extra clotting factors in their blood, which can lead to a stroke.

They also have higher inflammation markers, which indicate developing health problems.
As inflammation markers are also linked to pain, sleep expert Dr Michael Breus explained that women can literally be in more pain when they wake up.

That’s enough to make any girl feel rather grumpy.

By contrast, the state of a man’s health does not appear to be closely linked to how much they sleep.

In the study, men showed no increased risk of developing the ailments that affect women when they are sleep deprived.

“We found that women had more depression, women had more anger, and women had more hostility early in the morning,” said Dr Breus.

If this sounds like someone you know, it can probably be blamed on sleep deprivation and the fact that women are particularly susceptible to the effects. What does Dr Breus advise?

If you don’t manage to get enough sleep at night, try taking strategic naps.
However, he warned that those naps should be either 25 minutes or 90 minutes long. Any other length will make the snoozer feel worse when they wake, he said.

This is not the first time experts have suggested that women need more sleep than men.
One of Britain’s leading authorities on sleep found that women actually need 20 minutes more shut-eye. This is because of the female multi-tasking brain.

“One of the major functions of sleep is to allow the brain to recover and repair itself,” said Professor Jim Horne, director of the Sleep Research Centre at Loughborough University, England.

“During deep sleep, the cortex – the part of the brain responsible for thought, memory, language and so on – disengages from the senses and goes into recovery mode.

“The more of your brain you use during the day, the more of it that needs to recover and, consequently, the more sleep you need.
“Women tend to multi-task – they do lots at once and are flexible – and so they use more of their actual brain than men do. Because of that, their sleep need is greater.

“A man who has a complex job that involves a lot of decision-making and lateral thinking may also need more sleep than the average male – though probably still not as much as a woman.”
source: news.com

Inadequate pregnancy weight gain puts infants at risk of death

Researchers have said that women who do not gain enough weight during pregnancy are at increased risk of losing their baby in its first year of life.

The new study by researchers in the University of Maryland School of Public Health (UMD SPH) examined the relationship between gestational weight gain, mothers’ body mass index (BMI) before and during pregnancy, and infant mortality rates.

The study was conducted by Dr. Regina Davis, associate executive director of the American Public Health Association, Dr. Sandra Hofferth, professor, and Dr. Edmond Shenassa, associate professor.

Davis said that their study showed that gaining too little weight during pregnancy is a risk factor for infant mortality for all but the heaviest women, asserting that gaining more weight than recommended was not a risk factor for infant mortality but may be related to subsequent maternal health problems.

Davis, Hofferth, and Shenassa analyzed data collected from 159,244 mothers who gave birth to live, single babies between 2004 and 2008 in order to determine whether there was a link between gestational weight gain (GWG), mothers’ body mass index (BMI), and infant mortality.

Infant mortality risks in the study sample were 3.9 per cent among infants of mothers who gained an inadequate amount of weight during pregnancy, 1.2 per cent among infants of mothers who gained an adequate amount of weight, and .7 per cent among mothers who gained more than the recommended amount.

Mothers’ pre-pregnancy BMI was also a key factor in infant survival. Mothers who were underweight before pregnancy and gained too little weight during pregnancy had six times the normal rate of infant mortality.

The study has been published in the American Journal of Public Health. (ANI)

Source: Yahoo news

A stone baby found in 82 years old colombian woman

An 82-year-old woman complaining of stomach pain was revealed to have a 40-year-old fetus inside her body.

Multiple news agencies reported that when the Colombian woman when to a doctor in Bogota, they found a lithopedion, or a calcified fetus, inside her stomach.

Also known as a “stone baby,” a lithopedion happens when a mother has a pregnancy that doesn’t develop in the uterus, according to an article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Typically the fetuses are more than three months old and found in the abdomen. The fetus lacks circulation, which leads to extra calcium buildup.

Because it is so large, it cannot be absorbed by the body. Instead the fetus becomes calcified until it is removed.

According to the Irish Independent, about one out of every 11,000 pregnancies will turn into a lithopedion. Most women do not know what happened or that they were even pregnant, so it can remain inside them for quite some time.

An article in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine explained that the first known case of a lithopedion was found in 1582 in a 68-year-old woman from Sens, France. The fetus was estimated to be about 28 years old.

The Colombian woman was reportedly transferred to a different hospital to have the fetus surgically removed.

Source: Cbs news

$17.5 bn global investment needed for optimal breastfeeding: Report

A global annual investment of $17.5 billion in interventions to universalize optimal breastfeeding can prevent millions of babies from infant deaths due to diarrhoea and pneumonia besides impaired development and reduce the risk for diabetes, hypertension, cancer and cardiac diseases in adult life, suggests a report.

The report “The Need to Invest in Babies – A Global Drive for Financial Investment in Children’s Health and Development through Universalizing Interventions for Optimal Breastfeeding” was published by the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN), an international non-governmental organization that monitors and tracks the implementation of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding.

The report was formally released here Tuesday by Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission.

The report has been launched simultaneously in Canada, Mexico, Egypt, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nepal.

The report notes that out of the 135 million babies born every year, 83 million babies and their mothers are not enabled to optimally breastfeed as recommended by the WHO.

The report challenged the current estimate of $2.9 billion given by the World Bank in 2010.

“Even though breastfeeding has been identified as the most vital intervention to reduce infant deaths and malnutrition in children, it is extremely under-funded. Earlier estimates covered only parts of promotion of breastfeeding and were too low to fund all the necessary interventions of ‘protection’ and ‘support’ to women, which are so critical,” it said.

The report calls the transfer of a minimum of $2 per day for 180 days for lactating women to enable them to remain with their infants during the critical early months without economic pressure to go back to work. This assistance, which globally comes to $12.6 billion annually, is based on World Bank’s poverty line. India and UK have already begun such schemes to support women, it said.

Source: daijiworld

Sleep problems common among middle-aged women

Almost a quarter of middle-aged women report their quality of sleep is less than good, according to a new study.

Sleep problems were tied to poor quality of life, chronic illness and medication use, researchers found.

The new study adds to earlier research by looking at common sleep problems among women before they hit menopause, according to Dr. Päivi Polo. She led the study at the University of Turku in Finland.

“Typically we think that these are problems of menopause and thus menopause is the reason for everything,” Polo told Reuters Health.

“Then we try to treat all menopausal insomnia symptoms with hormone replacement therapy … but because in some women the sleep problems are already evident before the menopause, the HRT may not alleviate all sleep problems and we physicians are wondering what to do next.”

After menopause, hot flashes and night sweats increase sleep problems, she said.

Polo and her colleagues surveyed 850 mothers about their sleep when they were 42 years old, on average. One third had a chronic illness, like diabetes or heart disease, and 28 percent were on regular medication.

Women most often reported waking up frequently at night. Sixty percent of them had that problem at least once a week.

Sixteen percent of women reported having difficulty falling asleep and 20 percent said they woke up too early in the morning on a weekly basis.

Morning sleepiness was reported by 42 percent and daytime sleepiness by 32 percent.

Sleep troubles are not new for people of any age, but they do seem to be a bit more common among women. Hormonal changes related to menstrual cycles or menopause may be partly to blame, the authors write in Maturitas.

Occasional alcohol drinking was tied to better sleep quality and less falling asleep at work, they found.

But women’s weight and physical activity levels were not linked to sleep problems. That might be because most women in the study were in the normal range for body size, Polo said. Other studies have tied obesity to sleep problems like sleep apnea.

“There is likely a bidirectional association such that obesity may induce poor sleep, and short sleep may induce weight gain and subsequent obesity,” Dr. Helen Driver, who researches sleep at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, said.

“The study was not designed to assess much detail about the relationship between physical activity and sleep, which is a complex interaction depending on factors such as physical fitness, aerobic capacity, exercise type (aerobic, non-aerobic, stretching) and timing,” Driver told Reuters Health in an email.

All sleep problems can affect daytime tiredness, work performance and quality of life, Driver said.

Women tend to get about seven hours of sleep each night during the week, but sleep needs are unique to individuals, she said.

“Sleep is so crucial, since we sleep one third of our life and it affects so much of our health,” Polo said. Sleep problems can be a symptom of a disease or mental state, which doctors should keep in mind, she said.

Women having sleep problems should talk to their doctor and be sure to note any potential sleep-related side effects of medications, researchers said.

“A good start is to keep a sleep diary and note any patterns or symptoms such as snoring, restlessness, morning headache,” Driver said. “If there is concern ask your family physician for a referral to a sleep center for a
n assessment by a qualified sleep specialist.”

Source: US web daily

Blue pills may help alleviate menstrual cramps

Viagra may no longer be just for the gentlemen. A new study suggests that those little blue pills may also help women, though not in the way you might think.

Researchers have found that sildenafil citrate, the main ingredient in Viagra, Revatio and other drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction, can also be used to alleviate moderate to severe menstrual cramping in women.

“It seems counterintuitive, but what sildenafil citrate does is dilate blood vessels,” said Richard Legro, a gynecologist at Penn State College of Medicine and one of the authors of the study. “It leads to an erection in men, but in women, we think it can be an effective treatment for acute menstrual pain.”

That agonizing cramping in the pelvic area that many women experience at the start of their period is known in the scientific world as primary dysmenorrhea. It is caused by the excess production of prostaglandins, a lipid compound that tells your muscles when to relax and contract.

The extra prostaglandins that are produced at the time of menstruation are responsible for abnormal uterine contractions as well as increased sensitivity of pain receptors, the researchers explain in a study published in the journal Human Reproduction.
Legro and his colleagues hypothesized that if the blood vessels around the uterus were dilated, then the increased flow of blood might flush out those pain-causing prostaglandins.

“It’s like how a good rain can clear up smog,” Legro said.
To test their theory, the researchers ran a small trial in Croatia with 25 volunteers. The women were between the ages of 18 and 35 and all suffered from menstrual cramps. Some of the women were issued a dose of sildenafil citrate vaginally, while others were given a placebo.

The women who used the sildenafil citrate reported better overall pain relief than those who were given the placebo, although women who used the placebo also experienced significant pain relief, the researchers found. (They note that placebos often provide pain relief in such studies.)

This is just the first study to test the ability of sildenafil citrate to relieve menstrual crams, and more research needs to be done.
Legro and his team have already submitted a grant to study whether administering Viagra orally or vaginally makes a difference, as well as dosing over multiple period cycles.

Source: Los Angeles Times

6 tips for eating healthy during Menopause

Menopause is a frightening word for women. This transition is a consequence of biological aging and accompanying signs and effects that can occur during the menopause years can significantly disrupt their daily activities and sense of well-being. The most common symptoms include hot flushes, sweating, insomnia, anxiety, impairment of memory and fatigue. Long term consequences can include a decline in libido, osteoporosis, heart disease, even dementia – all linked to reduced oestrogen levels. During menopause, many women experience increased anxiety and stress. During such time, only good nutrition and effective handling of stress can reduce certain conditions that may develop during and after menopause.

So eat your way to a happier and healthier menopause. Here’s how:

Eat foods that are high in phytoestrogens: During menopause, a woman’s estrogen production considerably decreases, so eating foods that are high in phytoestrogens, like soy products and flaxseeds, can act like estrogen. Drinking soymilk, eating soybeans, tempeh, and roasted soy nuts might help. You can also go for Flaxseeds as they contain lignans, another type of phytoestrogens that may help with hot flashes.

Calcium is a must: According to a report,it is recommended that women over age 50 should consume 1,200 mg of calcium per day. Calcium will increase your bone density and prevent osteoporosis. So include yogurts, cheese, broccoli, salmon in your diet and drink milk regularly.

Include carbohydrates in your diet: Eating carbohydrates can release tryptophan that helps produce serotonin, a neurotransmitter in the brain that calms and relaxes people. Go for turkey, milk, eggs and fish. You can also try out cherries as it has melatonin which gives you a good night’s sleep.

Go for Vitamin-B: B-vitamins are known to stabilize moods, generate calmness and improve metabolism. Whole, unprocessed foods like lean meat and poultry, liver, whole grains and lentils are all rich in B vitamins. Other foods that have vitamin B are spinach, Brussels sprouts, kale, asparagus and beets.

Have legumes, nuts and seeds: The nutrients and the oils in nuts and seeds may help prevent dry skin and normalise hormone levels. Foods such as pumpkin, sunflower, almonds contain these essential nutrients.

Switch to a fibre rich diet: Due to the fluctuating hormones, the digestive system slows down, so bloating becomes a common problem. Foods that can get rid of the bloat are asparagus, celery, watermelon, and berries. A diet that is high in fibre, such as lentils, legumes, fruits and whole cereals, pasta, rice, fresh fruits, and vegetables can improve digestion and decrease bloating.

Source: Zee News

New Test May Help Predict Survival From Ovarian Cancer

By counting the number of cancer-fighting immune cells inside tumors, scientists say they may have found a way to predict survival from ovarian cancer.

The researchers developed an experimental method to count these cells, called tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes (TILs), in women with early stage and advanced ovarian cancer.

“We have developed a standardizable method that should one day be available in the clinic to better inform physicians on the best course of cancer therapy, therefore improving treatment and patient survival,” said lead researcher Jason Bielas, at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, in Seattle.

The test may have broader implications beyond ovarian cancer and be useful with other types of cancer, the study authors suggested.

In their current work with ovarian cancer patients, the researchers “demonstrated that this method can be used to diagnose T-cells quickly and effectively from a blood sample,” said Bielas, an associate member in human biology and public health sciences.

The report was published online Dec. 4 in Science Translational Medicine.

The researchers developed the test to count TILs, identify their frequency and develop a system to determine their ability to clone themselves. This is a way of measuring the tumor’s population of immune T-cells.

The test works by collecting genetic information of proteins only found in these cells.

“T-cell clones have unique DNA sequences that are [comparable] to product barcodes on items at the grocery store. Our technology is comparable to a barcode scanner,” Bielas said.

The technique, called QuanTILfy, was tested on tumor samples from 30 women with ovarian cancer whose survival ranged from one month to about 10 years.

Bielas and colleagues looked at the number of TILs in the tumors, comparing those numbers to the women’s survival.

The researchers found that higher TIL levels were linked with better survival. For example, the percent of TILs was about three times higher in women who survived more than five years than in those who survived less than two years.

“We are hoping to investigate whether this is a general phenomena of all cancers,” Bielas said. “There is good evidence now that the same associations can be made for melanoma and colorectal cancer.”

This new technology potentially could be used to predict treatment response, cancer recurrence and disease-free survival earlier and more effectively than current methods, Bielas noted.

It could therefore be used to guide personalized medicine. For example, it could be used to determine which immune and chemotherapy drugs are best to treat a particular patient, Bielas suggested.

“Thus, TIL can be used to guide the selection of drugs for cancer therapy, thereby improving patient outcome. The implementation of this assay in the clinic should improve cancer diagnostics and ultimately save lives,” he said.

Because the test is still experimental, Bielas could not estimate what the test might cost if it were eventually approved and used widely in patients.

Right now the test isn’t ready for general use, according to Dr. Franck Pages, a professor of immunology at the Hospital European Georges Pompidou in Paris, and author of an accompanying journal editorial.

“The new technology does not obviously fulfill the requirements for an easy routine clinical use to quantify T-cell infiltration in a tumor,” Pages said, “but the technology could help in immunotherapy trials to determine the immunological response induced in the tumor.”

Another expert agreed that more work must be done before the test can be used clinically.

“It’s been known for some time that there is a correlation between the level of natural killer cells — T-cells — and the prognosis of patients,” said William Chambers, interim national vice president for extramural research at the American Cancer Society.

“There is going to be a need for other people to verify the findings from this study,” Chambers said. “There is also a need to figure out how this would fit in the context of any sort of clinical approach.”

source: Philly

8 Tips for Losing Weight After Pregnancy

Load Up on ‘Super Foods’, Find Time to Exercise, Consider Breastfeeding to Help Shed Excess Pounds

Now that your new baby is here, you have a lot to think about: when to feed her, what to do if she cries — and how to get rid of those extra pounds you packed on during your pregnancy.

If you started out at a normal weight and gained the 25-35 pounds your doctor probably recommended, it shouldn’t take you more than a couple of months to get back to your pre-pregnancy weight if you watch what you eat and exercise.
If, on the other hand, you were overweight before your pregnancy or you put on more weight than your doctor advised, it could take much longer — up to a year — to get the weight off. Any baby weight you don’t take off could stick with you for a long time.

“It’s very critical that you do get the weight off, because if you don’t it has been associated with overweight and obesity 15 to 20 years later in life,” says Debra Krummel, PhD, RD, endowed professor in the University of Cincinnati department of nutrition.
And although every new mom is eager to look like her old self again, one of the most important things to remember is to be patient with yourself. Your favorite celebrity might have gone straight from the delivery room into her size 0 jeans, but she may not have done it in a way that was good for her body.

“All the magazines ask, ‘How did she do it?’ The more important question is, ‘Why did she do it?'” says Melinda Johnson, MS, RD, registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association (ADA). “They do this with very, very strict diets, and a lot of them do it by getting back into activity before their body is really ready for it.”

Johnson advocates a more gradual approach to weight loss. “The number one thing new mothers have to have is a certain amount of patience with their body,” she says. “It took nine months to get there. It should take at least that long to get back to their fighting weight.”

With that in mind, here are some tips to help you lose weight after pregnancy and fit back into your old jeans — whatever their size.

Don’t diet.

It may sound strange, but going on an official “diet” could derail your post-pregnancy weight loss goals. Feeling deprived of your favorite foods while you’re already stressed out by your new role as mom could actually cause you to gain weight, Johnson says.

“If you go back to eating healthy and eating for your hunger, most women find that the weight comes off pretty naturally,” she says.

Instead of dieting, she recommends eating a well-balanced variety of foods. Keep different snacks in the house to keep you from feeling hungry and give you energy throughout the day. Apple slices, carrot sticks, and wheat crackers are all good for noshing.
Source: Web md

 

Negative results may ‘not always’ imply reduced breast cancer risk

A new study has found that women who are members of families with BRCA2 mutations but who test negative for the family-specific BRCA2 mutations are still at greater risk for developing breast cancer compared with women in the general population.

Women with certain mutations in their BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes are at increased risk for breast cancer. However, the study suggested that it may not always be true.

“We found that women who test negative for family-specific BRCA2 mutations have more than four times the risk for developing breast cancer than the general population,” Gareth R. Evans from University of Manchester in the United Kingdom, said. “We also found that any increased risk for breast cancer is largely limited to BRCA2 families with strong family history and other genetic factors.

Evans said that it is likely that these women inherit genetic factors other than BRCA-related genes that increase their breast cancer risk. About 77 single nucleotide polymorphisms are linked to breast cancer risk.

He said that identification of additional SNPs is necessary to understand why some of the BRCA-negative women from BRCA families are at higher risk.

The authors noted that specialists should use caution when stating that a woman’s breast cancer risk is the same as that of the general population following a negative test, because it may not be true for some women who come from BRCA2 families with a strong family history.

The study is published in journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.

Source: ANI